Cursed Yoshi
by Darkermark
Summary: This is the story of one person... who loses everything and cannot gain it back, who falls to the darkness, who has the power to rewrite the history of everyone but himself... the Cursed Yoshi...
1. Prologue: A Reign Of Peace

Cursed Yoshi

Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance

**Prologue = A Reign of Peace**__

Author's note to the reader: The entire Cursed Yoshi series has been wholly rated as PG-13. Some bits may not be and some bits definitely are. You probably shouldn't read this at all if you're not over 12.

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi (the species, that is) is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

"Hey, Marcus!"

            Marcus turned his head, looking to see who had called out. He spotted a pink Yoshi running towards him. _Oh shoot!_ he thought, _She's going to give me away._ He frantically began to gesticulate wildly, trying to make the Yoshi go elsewhere for now.

            "No such luck. Gotcha." Another, deeper voice came from behind him, and a dark blue hand clapped onto his shoulder. Marcus sighed. He'd probably have to work overtime to pay back the debt he owed after losing so many games of binoculars-hide-and-seek.

            Marcus got up and brushed himself off, though most of the dirt and dust was hardly visible on his chocolate-coloured skin. He raised his head to see the pink Yoshi in front of him, and greeted her with a nod.

            "I'm sorry Marcus," She said, "I didn't know you were hiding." Even now, he couldn't be mad at the pink Yoshi in front of him, who was looking slightly forlorn.

            "Ah, don't worry about it." He replied. "I didn't think I'd win, and didn't bet him much." He gestured towards the dark blue Yoshi now standing beside him, his childhood friend Manny. Manny had obviously been looking hard for a while, as he was wiping the sweat from his ocean-blue forehead. In his free hand he carried his binoculars. 

The pink Yoshi was Marcus's girlfriend, a sweet yet innocent Yoshi by the name of Alziana. She had a purple tongue, which was unusual, but it wasn't very noticeable. His two friends had always despised each other, but Marcus had never asked exactly why. It had something to do with Manny's attempts to make her his girlfriend at some point in the past, but beyond that he didn't know and didn't care. Around her neck, Alziana wore her favourite item of jewellery: a necklace of pearls that she almost always had on her. 

"You play for money?" she asked.

"Yeah, it makes it all the more interesting." Marcus replied. "Except like now, when I keep losing."

Manny glanced up at the sky. It was about six o'clock, by his reckoning. 

"Well, what now?" he mumbled absent-mindedly. "How about another game?"

            Marcus shook his head. "I owe you enough as it is. Let's just go swimming or something."

            Alziana sighed. "Aw, but I can't swim! I want to go with you."

            "So much the better if you can't come." Manny said.

            Marcus intervened, preventing what would have become a heated argument. "Don't be nasty, Manny. Anyway, I'm actually too tired, now that I think of it."

            Manny scowled, but brightened up again. "Well, whatever. I'll leave you two Lovebirds -or is that LoveYoshies?- to do whatever you want. See you tomorrow, Marcus." With that, he wandered towards the centre of Shoreside Village where his house was.

            Alziana clasped Marcus's hand in her own and led him towards the shore. "Come on," she said as they walked, "Let's go watch the sunset together."

            Marcus chuckled. "It'll be the same as all the other sunsets. You see one, you've seen them all."

            "Aw, but don't you want to spend time with me?"

            "Of course I do! Just not some time I've spent before."

            Alziana let go of Marcus's hand long enough to scramble up a small rock wall and up to a better vantage point. From the rocky outcropping they were on, they could see the ocean spread out before them, dotted on the horizon with other islands. They sat down on the ground next to each other.

            "What is it you and Manny are up to tomorrow?" she asked.

            "Oh, something slightly different. We're off to go cave exploring."

"Ah… can I come with you?"

Marcus didn't even consider it. "No. It's dangerous. Me and Manny have done this for years, but you're inexperienced."

"But I'd be safe with you."

"No. I insist. Stay here."

"But you're usually gone for about a week! I don't like it when you're gone that long."

"This is only a day excursion. We'll be back around nightfall." He caught another big-eyed pleading coming his way. "And you still can't come."

She looked into his eyes, looking particularly at the red outlines that surrounded his pupils. They were always there, but Alziana wondered about them, because she had never seen anything like them on any other Yoshi. She had seen them several times before on Marcus, but they still spooked her a little, even though she considered them 'cute'. Right now they were shimmering in the fading sunlight.

As soon as the purple haze settled down onto the overlook, they stood up and faced the village. Marcus jumped off the outcropping and flutter jumped back down to the ground, landing on the moss-covered forest boundary a few yards away. Alziana hesitated, then ran and jumped over the edge. She only managed to flutter once before becoming unbalanced and falling headlong into the waiting arms of Marcus, who had run over from where he landed.

"If you can't even jump a few yards, how will you survive an expedition into the forest?"

Alziana blushed and mumbled absently, and Marcus put her down. She hugged him and then left, and he watched her until she went inside her house. They both lived in the Shoreside Village, a small Yoshi settlement of thatched houses of Yoshi construction, in which Marcus, Manny, and Alziana had grown up in. 

Marcus then strolled back to his own house, daydreaming, his head swimming with hormones. He shook his head to clear it, and concentrated about what he'd be doing tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus was still half-asleep when he was hauled out of his bed and through the window above it. He blinked several times, and a large blue blur slowly became vaguely Manny-shaped. The first rays of daylight were streaming into the village.

"Do you always have to do that?" Marcus grumbled.

"Quiet! We have to go before anyone wakes up. We always do." Manny spoke in a hushed voice.

"It's not even my parents' house." Marcus said, as he reached back through the window for his saddle and boots. "Maybe we should just tell your parents about your sword and knives."

"Maybe your parents would like to hear about the flail you paid me to steal. It's a wonder they don't know already."

Marcus knew when he was beaten. Independent though they were, their parents could still make life miserable for them. "All right, all right. Let's just go get our stuff." They wandered over to Alziana's garden, where they had hidden their equipment after the last time, and Marcus removed a fairly large dark brown box from a thick clump of lavender. _It's a good thing the lavender always grows here, _thought Marcus. _Otherwise we'd be caught. _He was fiddling with the combination lock when the window creaked open. Alziana's head emerged.

"Aha! It's you two!" she spoke in a low hiss. 

Marcus sighed and hissed back, "Yes, it's us, the opposing ends of the intelligence spectrum." He placed the box on the ground.

"I knew you had your things around here somewhere."

Manny spoke up. "If you tell anyone…" He flashed a menacing smile, and Marcus fixed her with a red-eyed gaze. She sighed.

"Okay, I'll keep your secret. But only because Marcus would get in trouble."

"Aw, thanks." Marcus went over to the window. "I knew you would."

"Here, take this with you." She handed him a small ring. "I meant to give it to you on your last birthday, but I lost it. I just found it here underneath the windowsill."

Marcus looked at her, unconvinced. "You mean you just forgot."

"Oh, alright. I did, and I only got it yesterday. But take it anyway. You're always getting me stuff."

"I won't take it now, I'd just lose it. Give it to me after we return." He said as he handed it back. She put it on a table next to her, and they smiled at each other for a moment.

Manny was standing behind him, holding the equipment box, faking retching sounds. As soon as Marcus turned around, he clasped his hands together and put on an airy voice, impersonating the two Yoshies. " 'Oh Alziana' 'Oh Marcus' 'Oh, you're so lovely' 'Oh, you're so cute'. Please. I want to eat again this year."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Then look away. This isn't suitable for immature audiences."

Alziana grabbed his head forced him to look at her again, but lost her balance and nearly fell out of the window. Marcus steadied her, and then waved. "We'll be off now."

Alziana gave him another large-eyed look. "Without a proper farewell?"

Marcus chuckled, then stepped forward. Carefully, she leaned out of the window a little and kissed him, and Marcus scratched the back of his head as he returned it uneasily, his cheeks turning a pale shade of pink. Manny pretended to throw up into the now-open equipment box.

Marcus winked, waved again, then turned and left. He looked back after a yard or two, and could swear he spotted tears in her eyes. Then he and Manny rounded a corner, entered the forest, and Manny handed Marcus his flail. 

It wasn't much, but it was a weapon. It basically was made of a long wooden handle, into which Marcus had carved his name, with a small metal cap on one end. Attached to the cap via three or four chain links was a pair of small, spiked steel balls. Manny's sword was only a shortsword, not as long as some, but it was enough for him. The trees obscured the view as they went deeper into the forest.

They were long gone by the time the sounds of horses' hooves approached the village.

To be continued… 


	2. Chapter One: Shoreside Slaughter

Cursed Yoshi

Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance

**Chapter 1 = Shoreside Slaughter**__

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

As the sun set again over the coastal area, the treetops obscured the view from inside the forest, and from the two Yoshies who were wandering back home. They hadn't been very lucky, only finding a few grouse for lunch, which Manny's throwing knives dispatched, and only one very small cave. But Marcus had saved Manny from falling into a river, and Manny's sharp eyes picked out the trail that led back home. Both of them were extremely tired and wanted to get back home to their beds.

But as they rounded one of the last corners of the path, a sharp, smoky scent filled their nostrils. Marcus figured it was someone roasting meat, but he wasn't so sure when he looked at his friend. The colour had drained from his face and he looked more like a turquoise Yoshi. He was muttering something.

"Speak up" Marcus told him.

"That's… that smell…"

Marcus inhaled deeply, and it hit him hard.

_Burning Thatch._

Manny had already started sprinting along, tearing through the lush foliage that covered the forest floor, running faster than Marcus had ever seen him run before. Marcus was only just able to keep up with him, and he was running out of breath when he ran full tilt into the back of Manny. The two of them tumbled over, then untangled themselves and leapt to their feet. Marcus's mouth fell open.

Their peaceful village had been utterly razed to the ground. Not just burned or destroyed, but totally ransacked. All of the huts and houses had been levelled, and only smoking piles of ash were left in several places. Smouldering timbers and strands of smoking thatch littered the ground, and most of the open soil had been overturned and sown with salt. It was deathly still, and total silence prevailed, except for the crackling of fires. The air was filled with dark smoke from the burnt thatch and charred timbers, and dead bodies of Yoshies littered the ground, all bearing sword marks across their chests, their open eyes blank and lifeless. Marcus recognised many of them. The smoky smell of wood fires filled the Yoshies' nostrils, and left a sharp taste on their tongues. Flower gardens and vegetable plots had been trampled by horsemen, and often burned up as well. Marcus couldn't believe that there had been any real threat in this little village; a comparatively small, self-reliant community of Yoshies that he had spent his childhood years in. A combination of the smoke, the emotional pain at the sight of the savagery, and the corpses that were scattered over the barren, overturned soil brought tears to Marcus's eyes. 

Manny drew his sword and pointed with it towards a crouching form on the other side of a mound of splinters. Without any concern for themselves or their safety, the two of them leapt forward in great bounds towards what turned out to be a white Yoshi. They let out harsh cries, and the Yoshi turned before drawing two long, curved swords. Marcus already had his flail handy and swung it as he jumped.

They collided with an audible clash of metal against metal, and started fighting. The two young Yoshies were nimble and managed to avoid the slashing swords, but all of their own attacks were parried. Their opponent seemed to be trying not to hurt them, using the flats of its swords to attack, and trying to sweep their legs out from under them. The white Yoshi then backflipped away from them and responded in a worried, high tone that revealed her gender: "Wait! I'm not your enemy!"

Marcus and Manny stopped, sweating profusely, the spiked balls on Marcus's flail still swinging. "You destroyed our village!" They shouted in far from perfect unison.

But the white Yoshi lowered her swords. "No, I didn't. How could I have done all this on my own? But I think I know who did."

Marcus cocked his head to one side questioningly. "You're just buying time." But she shook her head, and Marcus spotted her long eyelashes.

"Only professionals make a job of it like this. And only hired mercenaries, at that." She said. Manny sheathed his sword, but Marcus was wary, and kept his flail up despite his overwhelming exhaustion. "Oh yeah? Who?"

She gestured around towards smouldering wreckage. "Look at those flames. They're not normal. They've been caused by spell damage. Look over there, those flames are green, and those over there are blue. They must be magical fires." Marcus couldn't fight his tiredness anymore and dropped his flail, before falling over backwards from his fatigue.

Suddenly, all of his thoughts were pushed aside by a sudden concern: _Alziana_. Summoning up the last of his strength, he got up and staggered towards the pile of debris that he had seen her in this morning. He dug through the wreckage, as did Manny, and soon the blue Yoshi coughed to indicate he had found something. Weary with dread, Marcus stumbled over, and helped remove timbers, forcing himself not to look. But he could no longer restrain himself, and he glanced at what he recognised as having once been his girlfriend. 

Her eyes were open, and dark bruises covered her chest where her ribs had been shattered. There was blood all around her mouth, and a small line of it ran from the corner of her mouth down the side of her face and neck, and there was also blood running across her chest. There was a deep slash across her nose, and her once-soft skin had been roughened by hot ashes and wood splinters. Marcus reached out and touched the side of her head, and felt a chill as her cold skin brushed against his fingers. Her pretty necklace of pearls had been darkened by the ash, and Marcus gently undid the clasp and picked it up. Holding the ends in his hands, he held it out in front of him, and the flood of memories it brought back pushed him over the edge.

Marcus let out an unworldly wail of despair, tipping his head back and looking up to the heavens, and tears rolled down the sides of his cheeks and onto her body. He felt Manny's reassuring hand on his shoulder, and the white Yoshi stepped forward and used its fingers to close Alziana's eyelids. Marcus's sobs broke the silence and filled the air as darkness began to close around the village. 

"This… can't… be happening…" He choked on the words, and fell forwards onto her body as a fresh wave of tears appeared. _What did I do to deserve this?_

Marcus heard a low, painful moan, and raised his head, still sobbing. Manny had jumped back in surprise, and the white Yoshi was slowly walking away backwards. _Could it be?_ He listened hard, but couldn't hear anything. Then Alziana's eyelids opened slowly, and she moaned with pain. "Mar…cus…?" she gasped. He could hardly believe it. He was still choking on his tears, but they were now tears of happiness. _It's a miracle! _He thought, and he put the necklace down so he could hold her and support her back.

"It hurts… Marcus…" she was barely able to speak through the pain. Her eyes slid in and out of focus, and she whimpered as Marcus wiped the blood off of her mouth. Marcus brought her close to him and whispered, "It's alright. I'm here now. Don't worry." But her sight was fading, and she couldn't feel anything in her arms or legs. He saw her shut her eyes and he shook her gently.

"Stay awake" he said.

"I… can't…ugh… Foryo…"

"What?"

"Someone called… Foryo… he attacked… uhn…and… the mercenaries… urgh… called his… name… I… ugh…" She drew a sharp intake of breath, and continued, "Marcus… I'm… dying…" She gasped for air, and then coughed, before swallowing heavily.

Marcus felt very cold. He couldn't lose her, not now… he'd just gotten her back. Was she going to leave him already? He hugged her again, and pleaded with her, saying, "Don't leave me…". But he knew in his heart that she was dying, and he couldn't do anything about it. All he could do was ease her passing for her…

"The ring… Mar…cus… the… ring…"

He looked down and saw it, the one she had offered him earlier. It was clutched protectively in her left hand, and only the very edge was visible. He laid her back down on the ground and gently pried it loose from her weakening grasp. He slipped it on, moving his hands to allow her to see, and she forced a smile.

She was choking on something. "Nev-… Never forget… Marcus…". Her heart was pounding, and she was short of breath. Her eyesight failed as Marcus held her in his arms again. She coughed, and whispered, "Good-bye…"

She started to say something else, but could only gasp. Marcus bent over and kissed her. With a final, sudden, low moan of pain, she went limp in his arms. Manny picked up the string of pearls, and placed a comforting hand on Marcus's shoulder as he let Alziana's body fall lifeless to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus was utterly distraught. Everything that he once had was gone, taken away forever. All that was left of his village -his life- was him and his friend, and the few things of Alziana's he now held. The white Yoshi had introduced herself as a wandering Yoshi, and she only identified herself as 'Xenly'. Currently she was engaged in a deep conversation with Manny, who had decided to leave his broken-hearted friend in peace. Marcus had cried until long after dark, before finally willing himself to bury the body of Alziana. He had taken some of the trampled lavender shoots from the ruins of the garden and spread them across her shallow grave, but it didn't seem enough.

He had cleaned the string of pearls with a little seawater, and placed them in his saddlebags. He glanced at the ring he had retrieved. It was fine gold, and was wrought to look like a pair of snakes. Small, red jewels had been set into the gold as their 'eyes'. However, the sight of it brought memories that made him sadder, and he fell backwards with a moan of despair, and listened to the snatches of conversation.

"I think she drowned."

"Drowned?"

"Blood may have gotten into her lungs."

"Ah…how do you know all this stuff about that wizard?" Manny's voice floated across the barren land.

"Simple" came the voice of Xenly. "I'm a traveller. I hear things. I'm an assassin, and I could have minced you two if I had wanted."

"Even so… Just tell me the truth. All of it."

"Listen to me this time. Foryo is a Dark Wizard on the mainland. He's got a castle, but I don't know where exactly. It's near some backwater town that I can't remember the name of. If you're really going to go ahead with this, you'd better go soon, but you'll exhaust yourself if you go tonight. Get some sleep."

Manny nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

"No problem. Maybe I'll see you again, maybe not."

Marcus heard her footsteps plod off into the distance. Manny came over to him, and Marcus stood up, swaying on his feet, the salty streaks from recent tears plainly shown on his face.

"You okay?" Manny's voice was filled with concern.

"I… I'm not sure…"

"Come on, you'll be alright."

Marcus looked over at the hastily made grave, and stifled a sob. Manny rolled his eyes, and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Get some sleep. You'll feel better."

Marcus wanted to object, but he was so weary that he flopped back down onto the ground. His dreams twisted into nightmares; he saw visions of fire and steel; the look on his deceased girlfriend's face; a dark and terrible man ordering the destruction…

When he awoke his friend was shaking him, and Marcus was drenched with sweat. He jumped to his feet. Manny slowly rose, and gestured for him to follow.

"Where are we going?" Marcus asked.

"To avenge the village!" came the reply.

Marcus stopped dead. Manny paused, and then walked back up to him. "Don't you want to get your revenge? It's what Alziana would have wanted."

"I…uh… don't… really… think so. She wouldn't want us to kill any-"

Manny was filled with rage at his friend's folly. Before he fully realised what he was doing he had brought his hand down across Marcus's face. Marcus gave a cry and gripped his cheek, and Manny burst into a torrent of words.

"You fool! Don't you see? Alziana is dead; she's gone, and she's never coming back. There's nothing to gain by sitting there feeling sorry for yourself. I, for one, am NOT going to let this pass over my head. I'm going to find this… this 'Foryo' person and make sure that this is the last mistake he ever makes, whether you come or not. Do you think Alziana would rather see you exact your revenge, or sit here and pity yourself to death?"

Marcus stood there, shocked to his very soul. His friend's words were filled with conviction, and he had spat them out in pure anger. Marcus had lost everything else, and he couldn't – wouldn't – lose his only living friend. Alziana's final words resounded in Marcus's head: _"Never forget… Marcus…"_.Marcus nodded and picked up his flail, casting one last glace back towards the ruins of his home. "You're right." He said. "I can't let something like this go unpunished, even if it's the last thing I do." They strolled into the forest, burning with spite. 

To be continued… 


	3. Chapter Two: The Journey Begins

Cursed Yoshi

Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance

**Chapter 2 = The Journey Begins**__

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

            Marcus and Manny strolled leisurely through the forest they knew so well, since they had gone through there many times. They knew detours to take to get to patches of fruit-bearing bushes, which was important due to their lack of supplies. They stopped at a small spring to take a breather at about noon; it was going to be a long journey.

            The water coming from the spring was cool and refreshing, and after quenching their thirst they grabbed handfuls and sloshed it over themselves, cooling their bodies in the intense heat of what was slowly becoming a jungle. Manny decided to look around for small animals, licking his lips at the thought of a change from the berries they had picked. He wandered off, and Marcus lay on his back beside the spring to rest. It's so hot, he thought, maybe I'll just take a nap…

            Manny was stealthily walking around, being careful not to go too far from the spring. He was a bit bigger and slightly more muscular than his friend, but he was fairly stealthy, and so usually was stuck with the task of catching animals to eat. It didn't take him long to spot a hare lying under the shade of a bush, and Manny crouched down a few feet away. Closing his left eye to help him aim better, he took one of his seven small knives out of his saddlebag, and threw it without making a sound. He only managed to wound the hare and it bolted. Manny gave chase and it collapsed after a few yards, and he retrieved it. He slit its throat before picking it up and bagging it, and made his way back to the spring. Just as it came into view he heard a shout, and a splash. He peered through the trees and burst out laughing.

            Marcus had fallen asleep and awoke to find numerous ants crawling over his legs. He had tried to jump up but had lost his balance and fell into the pool of spring water, and he was currently thrashing around swiping at the ants on his legs. Manny fell over backwards, clutching his stomach, propped up on his tail so he could still see the crazy antics going on in front of him, while Marcus jumped out of the pool. However, he became tangled in several creepers, restricting his movement, and Manny, who was barely able to walk straight, got up and attempted pulled his friend loose from the clutches of the plants. But, he fell over again, slipping into fresh bouts of laughter.

            "Get up and help me!" Marcus shouted. But all Manny could do was chortle.

            Suddenly the sound of approaching footsteps reached their ears, and Manny crawled into the foliage, his laughter stifled. The footsteps lumbered closer, and Marcus was unable to free himself from the creepers.

            A man in forest clothes carrying a bow walked towards the spring. He had a small moustache and beads of sweat covered his forehead. He didn't notice Marcus until he was about a foot away from him. Marcus tried a big-eyed look.

            "Can you help me out, mister?" he tried to raise his voice a little, but it sounded more like he'd just stood on something sharp.

            "Can't you move at all?" the man enquired. He was clothed mostly in green, and he strapped his bow to his back before unsheathing his sword. "Okay, let me see…" he said, as he walked closer to Marcus.

            "Oh, thank you." Marcus began. "I was afraid that-" but the man pressed the blade to his throat, and began searching through Marcus's belongings. Marcus's red eyes scanned the trees for some sign of his friend, but he was nowhere to be seen.

            From behind him he suddenly heard the man gasp as he was pulled over backwards by Manny, and Marcus turned his head to see that the man had one of Manny's boots over his neck, the other over the man's sword.

            "Ah…" the man said. "Um… it's a good thing you came…" he gasped, and continued, "… I was trying to free that Yoshi…" he gasped a couple of times, desperate for breath. "Uh, do you think you could… move your shoe? I… can't… breathe…"

            "He's my friend. I saw that." Manny said as he folded his arms.

            The bandit saw his chance and used his left arm to grab Manny's leg and pull him over (Author's note: He's not a bandit from SMW2). Manny yelped as he fell but rolled over and got to his feet, drawing his sword. The bandit picked up his own sword, and jumped at Manny, who easily dodged the clumsy slash. Manny kicked him, but he got back up and made wide, sweeping slashes, which Manny parried. Manny ducked and made an upward slash, succeeding only in taking out the bandit's shirt buttons. The bandit thrust the sword at Manny, who dodged, but he lost his footing on a tree root and the bandit's next slash gouged a shallow wound in Manny's chest. Manny fell to his knees and the bandit raised his sword for the final attack, raising it far behind his head. Manny would have died then if Marcus, watching from the vines, had not quickly grabbed the sword with his tongue. However, the bandit's hold was firmer and he pulled his sword loose of Marcus's grip, drawing blood from the brown Yoshi's tongue. But with this moment of distraction Manny brought his own sword up, and made a deep gash in the bandit's leg. He howled with pain, and Manny deftly plunged his sword into the man, his cry of pain stifled by his death. He collapsed to the mossy ground and Manny gasped for breath, hunched over.

            "Hey!" Marcus cried, his bleeding tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Con other hewe an helm me!"

            Manny staggered to his feet and used one of his knives to cut Marcus free of the tangled vegetation while Marcus gingerly returned his tongue to his mouth. Once he was free, he just stood there and stared at Manny.

            "What?" Manny said.

            "Manny…" Marcus said, keeping his bleeding tongue in his mouth, "You… you just killed someone."

            Manny didn't seem perturbed in the least. "So?" he replied. "We are nothing more than homeless Yoshies. The laws of the land are beyond us. Is it such a crime to kill someone who can talk to you? Is it any more than stomping a bug or hunting?"

            Marcus replied, "But… you seem so indifferent. If we go around killing people like this, then we'll be nothing more than…"

            "Outlaws?" Manny said, suddenly consciously aware of the wound on his chest, which he gripped with his free hand. "We are whether we like it or not. We have nothing on our minds but what the world has done to us. Perhaps we should pay it back. If there are people out there who will cause the senseless destruction of a small village, what is it if we kill a few people?"

            "Manny, we're as bad as them if we do that." Marcus said. "If we can kill in the same cold blood as those who killed the residents of our village, then we are as low as them and deserve the same."

            "They did it to us first." Manny spat irritably. "We are merely exacting our revenge."

            Marcus decided not to argue any more. Manny then sat down beside the spring, and used the soothing water to wash his own wound before he lay down. Marcus washed the cut on his tongue before tearing strips of cloth from the bandit's shirt sleeves to use as a makeshift bandage, which he wrapped around the wound on his friend's chest after dipping them in the clear spring water. Manny mumbled his thanks, and Marcus checked his saddlebags, and then realised at the sight of the berries how hungry he was.

            "Hey Manny," he said, "Did you find anything?" Manny just gestured towards his own saddlebags, and Marcus retrieved the hare from them. Not bad, he thought.

            Manny began to stir from his resting place, but Marcus pushed him back down onto the ground. His friend needed rest if his wound was ever to heal, and as soon as he finished cooking he beckoned to his companion. It had grown late, and the sun was setting. But they had rested, and after their meal they resumed their march through the trees. The forest would swallow all trace of their passing.

**To be continued…**


	4. Chapter Three: Beware The Darkness

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 3 = Beware the darkness…**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

They reached the other side of the forest by midnight, and took it in turns to keep watch while the other slept. However, Marcus's dreams were fitful and full of nightmares, and he didn't feel like he'd slept at all. After their encounter with the bandit they felt wary of letting their guard down entirely, and as soon as the sun rose again over the land, they left the cover of the forest and started crossing the open plains ahead of them, using the sun as a guide to point them north.

Neither of them knew much of the geography past the forest; they had reached the far end one day and turned back. But now, they were crossing into the unknown. When they stopped again to take a breather, Marcus looked around. Wide, open grassland spread out before them into the distance, and the long grass swayed with every gust of wind. It was quite a serene view, and the only audible sound was the wind blowing by. After a meagre lunch, -a few berries and some leftovers,- they continued walking, careful not to stray from a northerly route.

As the sun was setting they came across a major road, but no signposts. They opted to stay there for the night and hopefully find a merchant, or a traveller, or someone to get directions from. Marcus nodded off as soon as he sat down, and Manny snacked on their last few berries. He looked up into the dark sky, and gazed upon the stars; the cloudless night made it quite cold, but the heavens were perfectly visible to him. Hanging in the sky was Chyrus's first moon; the second, larger moon would probably be around on the other side of Chyrus. The two moons that went over the land were in the same orbit, but swapped places every forty-two days. Manny was about to see if he could make any shapes by connecting the stars in his head, but Marcus's delusive mumblings nearly drove him crazy, and he went in search of some more food.

Marcus woke with a start a few minutes later when a wolf howl cut through the darkness. He jumped to his feet, and readied his flail, taking it from the three leather rings bound to his saddlebags that he could slot the handle into. He noticed that his saddlebags seemed lighter, and discovered that the food pouch on his saddlebags was empty. He looked around again, and relaxed a little as silence prevailed once more. It's nothing, he told himself. Just my imagin-

"Aaaaaaaaghh!"

Marcus spun around wildly, clenching his teeth, looking for Manny. Someone just screamed! He thought. Unable to see in the darkness, he listened carefully for any further sounds, but only silence reached his ear holes. He heard a padding sound, almost like Yoshi boots… maybe it was Manny…?

Suddenly, something ran into him. Marcus's feet were knocked out from under him, and he stumbled backwards, twisting his ankle. He collapsed to the ground, using his left hand to clutch his ankle. I let my guard down, and look what happened! His heart was racing, and his eyes darted around, looking out for whatever had hit him.

Squinting, he made out the indistinct outline of some creature running blindly along the road. It disappeared into the shadows, and Marcus crawled off the road, in case any more of them came. He heard heavy footsteps and panting, and the occasional cry of pain followed by a muffled curse. A shape staggered forwards, and it looked to be about the size of a wolf, or perhaps the creature that had smacked into him. Marcus let go of his foot and used both his hands to hold his flail, as prepared as he could be for an attack. But whatever it was stopped before reaching the cowering brown Yoshi. Hesitantly, it stood straight, and Marcus saw it had a sword. It caught its breath and held its sword ready.

Marcus guessed from the profile it was another Yoshi, and he assumed it was his friend. "Manny," he whispered, "I'm over here." The Yoshi moved forward, and the pale moonlight glinted off Manny's short sword. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. But he then gasped as the moonlight also showed blood dripping from three deep claw slashes on Manny's nose.

Marcus tried to be calm about it, and pretend he hadn't noticed. Manny, however, wiped some of the blood off his nose and whispered, "Don't worry, it's just a little scratch…"

"What was that creature?" Marcus said. But Manny clapped a hand over his mouth. "Be quiet!" Manny hissed, and he hauled Marcus to his feet. Marcus stifled a cry as pain shot through his sprained ankle.

Marcus spoke softly, pulling Manny's hand off his face. "Manny, I can't walk. I've twisted my ankle…" Manny thought for a moment.

"But we've got to move on. I think there's a whole pack of them coming."

As if to emphasise this point, another scream cut through the dark.

"Leave me here. I'll hide." Marcus murmured.

Manny shook his head. "Where? It's just grass for a long way."

Marcus had an idea. "I know. Turn around. You'll have to let me ride you."

"You're a fully-grown Yoshi. I can't carry you!"

"You're stronger than I am, I'm a bit underweight, and I'm not fully grown yet, but I'm pretty close. You can probably manage."

Marcus returned his flail to the leather rings, and Manny grudgingly turned sideways and let Marcus clamber onto his saddle. Marcus wrapped his hands around Manny's neck, and Manny walked along the road, trying to balance Marcus on his back. His friend was surprisingly light, and once Manny was accustomed to the added weight he soon broke into a run. Marcus closed his eyes and held on for dear life.

Unfortunately, Marcus was the better runner of the two, and Manny could only run for about half a mile before slowing to a trot. The wolf cries were getting fainter, and after silence remained for a few minutes, Manny collapsed to the ground from exhaustion and blood loss, panting, as he lay sprawled on the floor.

Marcus let go of Manny and gently put some weight on his foot, and he only felt a slight prickle. Switching places with his friend, he walked forward. Manny drifted into unconsciousness, and Marcus moved onward under the far greater weight of the dark blue Yoshi, ignoring the stinging in his foot.

Up ahead, he caught sight of an old lodge. It was circular and small, and had several holes in the thatched roof. The stones it was made out of were slightly discernible in the dying light of a nearby campfire. Marcus hurried towards it, as fast as his exhausted legs would allow as he bore Manny on his back. He felt wary as he approached, and while he was looking about, he tripped over a body sprawled on the ground. Manny was catapulted off Marcus's saddle, and Marcus fell forward onto the road. Marcus's injured foot seared with pain as he got to his feet, and he found claw slash marks on the head, chest, and across the neck of what was a dead Birdo. A deeper red than most Birdos normally were, it appeared to have died only a few minutes ago after a wolf -or whatever it was- attack.

Wincing with pain after every other step, he grabbed both Manny and the Birdo around their necks and dragged them towards the ruined lodge. Once inside, he shut the broken door and collapsed onto a wooden chair. It appeared the Birdo had been living here, as a number of small objects were scattered around the room, untouched by the carpets of dust that covered the floor and windowsill. He got up and removed the Birdo's pack, the reason he had pulled in the corpse, and sat back down to look through it.

Inside he found a handful of change, the total value of which was 67 coins, which he put in his saddlebags. He also found some cloth, which could be used as a bandage, an empty water canteen, and few pieces of paper. Intrigued, he unfolded one to find it was a letter. He held it in a beam of moonlight streaming in through a hole in the thatched roof, and strained to read the spidery writing:

Dear Salistra,

I hope you're doing fine. I know it's difficult to live in exile, but I'm doing everything I can to have it overturned. I know you are innocent, and as soon as I have some proof you can come back.

Our little Sarennia is doing fine, she's learned to read and write. But she always wants to know when you'll be back, and I keep telling her you'll come back soon.

I've sent you some money I earned; it's all I can spare. Foryo is imposing heavy taxes on the populace of Sansata, but I don't really want to know what he's doing with the money. It seems he's raising an army; he came back with a squad of horsemen this morning from somewhere south of here.

If I can't get you back here, I'll come see you myself. I'm paying for express delivery to get this to you, you're worth it to me.

Loving you always,

    Your husband Xavier

Marcus read it and re-read it. The letter was a mine of information; he now knew where Foryo was and the town he had to find. He wished it hadn't involved the death of the Birdo, but he couldn't help that. He opened another piece of folded paper, and it was a crude, hand-drawn picture of two Birdos, a green one and a smaller pink one, presumably the relatives of 'Salistra'. He conjured up an image in his mind of the crestfallen pair, saddened by the loss of a loved one, and Marcus stifled a sob as memories of his own lover flowed back into his mind. The final piece of paper was a note of exile, signed by some high-ranking officials.

Returning most of the items to the pouch, he kept a strip of cloth, licked the ends to make them sticky, and stuck it across the cuts on Manny's nose. He then took a dusty, moth-eaten blanket off of the bed and draped it over his friend. Marcus then sat back in the chair and fell asleep, troubled again by renewed nightmares.

**To be continued…**


	5. Chapter Four: The Black Forest

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 4 = The Black Forest **

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Many miles in from the shoreline of the main part of Chyrus, near the city of Sansata, was the large and foreboding Castle of Tyranny. It was so called because ownership of it changed so often that naming it after the owner was counter productive.

But the current resident had lived longer than any of his predecessors, mainly through brute force but also by inducing terror into his guards, making them too afraid to turn against him. He also had an edge only a few had ever had; control over the mystical force of Magic.

The tyrant was pacing back and forth in his room in the castle, troubled by recent events. Only a few days ago he had ordered mercenaries to level a village after he had been sent a vision in his sleep, and he had gone with them to ensure that the job was done, partaking a little in the destruction himself. He cared not for the Yoshies there; he was sure that he had done what he had needed to.

But his slumber had been stressing recently afterwards; a screeching voice was shouting incomprehensible things at him in another language, and his lack of sleep was draining him. He couldn't show a weakness though, or he would meet a bloody end like the previous castle owners…

With a flourish, he spun around on his heels, allowing his robes to billow out from his body. The human wizard Foryo then paced along to his bookshelf and proceeded to search his spellbooks for something to help him…

He'd left the mercenaries behind after the initial slaughter; he didn't need to be there for any of the labour involved in professionally razing a village and had ridden off at speed back towards the castle he called home. The mercenaries would have a tough time getting back under all that armour, but he had other things to worry about. Despite levelling the "Shoreside Village" as he had been instructed in the vision, he had an awful sense of foreboding that something, somewhere, had either been overlooked or forgotten about…

            On Yoshi's Island, several miles out from the coast, the two survivors of their village's destruction were slowly waking as dawn poured into the room from holes in the ceiling of their temporary shelter.

"Ugh… My head…"

            Manny slowly dragged himself away from the comforts of sleep and tried to remember what had happened to him. The last things he remembered were his efforts to stay on Marcus's saddle… then nothing.

His muscles ached from spending the night on the hard floor, and he could feel something scratchy on his nose; he gingerly touched it, and found it was a bandage. He was lying face down underneath an old blanket and his front was covered with dust. He looked over to his side and saw a reddish Birdo, with several scars across it, and though it was clearly dead, it unnerved Manny anyway.

"You back with me now?" Marcus was somewhere behind him.

"What is this doing here? And why am I on the floor? Where am I?"

"One of those wolves got her. You're on the floor because the bed is broken. We're in an old cottage somewhere up the road from where the wolves were."

Manny groggily got to his feet and brushed the dust off of him, and turned around. Marcus was rubbing his eyes; it appeared he had only just woken up as well. He was sitting in an old rocking chair, with something in his lap that looked like a small satchel.

Manny pointed to it. "What's that you've got there?"

"This?" Marcus raised the bag. "I found it on her."

Manny winked. "Her, you say?"

"Very funny. There's a letter in here that refers to this Birdo as someone's wife."

"Ah, okay... Should you be reading that?"

"Why not? She certainly won't be."

"Fair enough. What else is there?"

"Some money, a water container, a picture of her husband and kid, and a few more inches of bandage." He handed Manny the letter, and he skimmed through it.

"Yeah, so what? What's so important in this letter?" He said, batting it once with the back of his free hand.

"It mentions Foryo. We now know the name of the town we're looking for."

"Oh, right, I see. Is there any food in there? I'm starving." Manny's stomach rumbled to emphasise this point.

"No luck. We'll have to find something around here."

"I'm so hungry I could probably eat that Birdo…"

"Manny!"

"Mind you, I heard that Birdo meat is stringy and horrible."

"Manny…" Marcus glared.

Manny rolled his eyes. "All right, all right, I was only joking. Surely there's some -edible- food in here somewhere. Did you look in all the cupboards?"

"No, come to think of it. I was too tired."

Marcus and Manny searched the rest of the cottage, and came up with a few hardened leather containers of uncooked, preserved meat. _That explains the campfire she built,_ Marcus thought. He also found a covered jug of water, the contents of which he transferred to the leather water skin he had taken from the Birdo the day before. Manny opened one of the food satchels and they went outside to build another fire, and Marcus decided to saddlebag the Birdo's satchel and take it with him. The food was heavily salted, and though it kept the meat fresh it made it tough and chewy. They decided to cook the whole tin in case they couldn't find anything to build a fire with, and after their breakfast they gathered up their things and set off again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The road wasn't of the highest quality, and was filled with potholes. They had to watch their step to avoid tripping over one, and eventually gave up and walked on the grass next to the road. The sky was cloudless and the sun shone down onto the two Yoshies, and they had to stop frequently to lie down and cool off. The scenery didn't change at all during their walk, except for a forest in the distance that seemed to be slowly getting closer. As the sun set they decided to call it a day and had some more of the salty meat for dinner. They then took it in turns to sleep, and Marcus watched in dismay as dark clouds began to blot out the moon.

Marcus sifted through Manny's belongings and picked out the box that contained the throwing knives. Long ago, Manny has stolen them from a greedy merchant that had come to the shoreside village when they were kids. Manny had also taken the short sword he still carried, and Marcus's flail, which Marcus had paid his friend to take. _Those were carefree times, good times,_ he thought, _when I was still just a little two year old Yoshi, before I had any responsibilities, before I met… Alziana…_

He looked at the knives, forcing himself away from depressing memories. They were very ornate, and each one had a different gemstone set into the handle. The fading moonlight sparkled off of them, and they looked very pretty. He closed the lid to the felt-lined box and returned it to Manny's saddlebags.

He woke his friend and they switched positions, and Marcus fell into a fitful sleep full of nightmares. He woke up as rain started to fall, and the two Yoshies ate the last of the cooked meat before heading along the path. The drizzle soon turned into a downpour, and the two of them started running, intent on reaching the forest they had first seen yesterday…

When they finally got under the cover of the forested section of the road, they stopped to catch their breath at the forest edge. Marcus lay down on the ground, exhausted, and Manny looked around for any small animals he could find. His sharp eyes picked out a patch of berry bushes behind an old oak, and he picked as many as he could fit in his saddlebags. They took turns sleeping under the shelter of the trees, then they set off deeper into the forest.

After another hour the poor light faded, and they moved slower to avoid losing each other. They could smell damp moss on the ground as they moved forward, and slowed further to avoid walking into a swamp. They heard an owl overhead, hooting indignantly as they went underneath its tree, and they moved a bit further before Manny decided to stop for the night. Marcus fell asleep first, and Manny looked at the ring on his finger, barely visible in the streams of moonlight. _Poor guy, _he thought, _he's suffering from all this. I'll have to take him into a bar and get him drinking; he needs to forget what's happened. After all, those who live in the past are unprepared for the future._ He closed his eyes and sleep overwhelmed him before he could think to wake Marcus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Marcus woke up, the glowing rays of dawn swept through the forest, and through gaps in the leaves he could make out a rainbow. He nudged Manny to point this out to him.

Only Manny wasn't there.

There was no trace of his leaving, no footprints, no note, nothing. Where his friend had been was a small pile of his belongings: his saddle, boots, sword, and saddlebags. Marcus leapt to his feet and scanned the area.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnyyyyyyyy!" He shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth. He heard an echo, and the sounds of startled birds taking off from their roosts in the trees, but no reply. Gathering his friend's belongings, he walked forward along the path. The path through the forest became very winding, and Marcus frequently took shortcuts through the trees.

After walking for about five minutes he found a lake of cloudy water, and he saw Manny treading water in the centre. "There you are!" Marcus shouted. Manny grinned. "I figured I'd have a look around and get away from your mumbling. Come on in! The water's warm!"

Marcus was undoing the laces on his boots when he heard a splash. He looked up and saw concentric circles expanding from where Manny had been. _Must've dived,_ he thought.

Then, before his very eyes, a huge, scum-covered creature surfaced. It was almost as big as the lake, and it gave a loud roar that shook the trees. Manny was struggling in one of its tentacles, but he was locked in a death grip. 

Marcus picked up Manny's sword and leapt forward, attempting to slash the slimy green tentacle that was slowly crushing his friend, but his blows simply bounced off the creature's hide, nothing more than an annoyance. The creature lashed out with another tentacle, sending Marcus flying backwards into a tree trunk. Dazed, Marcus got up and lunged again, this time thrusting forward instead of making a long sweeping slash; the sword point found a gap in the segmented armour and drew blood. The creature's grip on Manny lessened, and he got his hands free.

Manny began gesticulating frantically, trying to catch Marcus's attention. "Marcus! Throw me my sword!" he shouted. Marcus withdrew the sword from the creature and threw it, but his aim was off and it sailed past Manny's outstretched arms. Thinking quickly, Manny grabbed the hilt with his tongue before it hit the water, and pulled his sword towards him. He began stabbing at the tentacle holding him, and the creature's hold began to fail. Marcus was using his flail to attack the monster, distracting it from the blue Yoshi that was slipping out of its grasp, but out of the corner of his eye he saw another tentacle rise up to swing at him…

Suddenly, an arrow flew out from the trees with a piercing whistle, and struck the creature's main body. It gave an awful shriek, and Manny fell from its clutches into the now extremely murky water, as another arrow pierced the creature's front, and it sank into the depths from whence it came. Manny lost no time in scrambling out of the lake and up the shore clutching his sword in his hand. Marcus turned around, looking for their unseen helper, and he spotted what looked like a human running out of the shadows, who came up to them.

It was a woman with long, flowing black hair. She was dressed in light leather armour, and she had a woollen mantle draped over her, forest green in colour. She carried a bow and several more arrows in her left hand, and her right hand was extended towards Marcus. Nervously, he took it, and she smiled as she shook his hand.

When she spoke, her voice was clear and commanding, but had a gentle touch to it. "Are you two alright?" she said. "Most people who get caught by the water-demon don't make it back out alive." Manny was lacing up his boots, so Marcus spoke up. "We're fine, but I'm glad you helped… who are you, and why did you help us?"

She pushed her hair back with one hand, revealing a set of elongated ears. "I'm an elf, one of the last. We have no quarrel with the Yoshi people, and seek to help them when we can. I am known as Laen-Adil, or just Laen for short.."

Manny coughed politely, and Marcus started doing up the fastenings on his friend's saddle, not taking his eyes away from the elf. _An elf!_ He thought, _And I thought they were just the stuff of legends!_

"I would be honoured if you two came back to my village, if only for a little bit. We haven't had visitors in a long time…" She glanced at the various scars they wore, and continued, "And our healers could help you out."

Manny smiled. "That would be great. We haven't had a decent meal in days."

The elf frowned. "One question remains: why are two teenage Yoshies wandering around The Black Forest?"

"We're looking for the town of Sansata." Marcus replied.

"Or, more specifically, a castle nearby." Manny added.

Laen raised an eyebrow. "What business have you got with Foryo? They say his magic is feared throughout the country."

"It's a long story." Marcus said. "Once we've rested for a bit then we'll tell you."

"Fair enough. Come, follow me."

After checking that Manny's saddlebags were secure, they followed the elf via a winding route through the maze of trees. A few footsteps behind, the two Yoshies talked amongst each other. Manny couldn't keep his eyes off of the elf.

"My, you've been smitten, haven't you?" Marcus whispered.

"Shut up. I've just never seen any elves before."

"Whatever. Do you think they know something we don't about Foryo?"

"There's a lot we don't know."

Marcus shrugged. "Good point. Regardless, we've just been offered a soft bed and some decent food, so let's make the most of it."

Up ahead, they heard the sounds of many voices, and walked in that general direction…

**_To be continued…_**


	6. Chapter Five: A Dying Race

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 5 = A Dying Race**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

As they got closer to the voices, which grew continuously louder, Marcus felt slightly uneasy. The voices didn't sound too much like Laen's, but then again he'd never heard a male elf speak.

Suddenly they were both pulled into a group of bushes; Laen had grabbed their saddles and she released Marcus's to put a finger to her lips. Both Yoshies bent their legs and Marcus parted the bushes to look into the clearing up ahead.

Several armoured human soldiers were standing behind someone of rank and distinction, who was talking to an elf with a headband with a few feathers in it, presumably an elvish display of position. Neither Marcus nor Manny could hear what was being said, but Laen's facial expressions changed every now and again; she could apparently hear the conversation quite clearly.

Without warning, the ranked soldier drew his sword and pointed it straight towards the elf. The elvish soldiers behind him moved forward, but the lead elf waved them back, and Laen muttered an elvish curse and notched an arrow, before aiming the bow straight for the foremost soldier.

"What's going on?" Marcus whispered.

Laen remained silent as she held her bow steady. Marcus looked over at Manny, who shrugged back before looking back at the crowd.

After another few moments' heated debate, the lead elf threw his arms up in exasperation and impatiently waved the lead soldier away. The soldier drew back a little, before running his blade through the elf.

The elves behind him jumped forward and began to fight. Laen loosed her arrow and it pierced the air with a whistle, finding its mark in the lead soldier's neck. The sounds of steel against steel began to fill the air, and Marcus looked over at Manny again, unsure of what to do.

Manny, seeing that the soldiers had the upper hand against the unarmoured elves, drew his sword from the sheath on his saddle and jumped to his feet. Laen hissed, "Stay back!" to him, but he was already sprinting across the open ground to the back of the group of human soldiers. Marcus, after a moment's deliberation, removed his flail from the leather rings on his saddlebags that held it in place, and ran over to help his friend.

Manny had started to fight one of the soldiers, who had broken away from the back of the group unnoticed and was engaged in one-on-one combat with the blue Yoshi. Manny parried the soldier's strike and flung the blade away, and the soldier aimed a kick at him. Manny brought his left arm up to block it and made a return slash with his sword, but It bounced off the soldier's armour, and he laughed as he tried to stab Manny, who deftly dodged the attack. Manny brought his sword up to deflect another strike, and while the soldier was unbalanced he made a stab of his own, and the sword found a gap in the armour of the soldier, between his coat of chainmail and his chain-link pants. He doubled over as Manny withdrew his sword, and Manny lost no time in lunging for another soldier.

Marcus had begun to fight a soldier who wasn't wearing a helmet, and was trying to hit him on the head, but the soldier kept blocking him and Marcus had to look out for the sharp sword being thrust at him. Marcus ducked another slash and caught a sword swipe on the tip of his flail. Then, he heard a swishing sound, and suddenly an arrow struck the soldier's neck, and he fell to the ground.

The remaining soldiers, suddenly conscious of the fact that they were now losing, began to try and run, but the elves blocked their retreat and they became bogged down in fighting. Marcus spotted Manny using his sword to deflect a rapid series of sword attacks being dealt to him by a lightly armoured soldier. Manny finally managed to get a swipe of his own in, but his upward slash merely knocked the soldier's visor up. Manny was forced to go on the defensive again, but was taken by surprise as the soldier faked a slash before slicing open a gash across Manny's chest, just below the partially healed one dealt to him by the bandit not too long ago. But Marcus, seeing an opportunity, ran over and leapt into the air, making a sideways swipe as he did so. The spiked balls on his flail found the gap in the soldier's helmet and smashed into his face. The soldier was then hit by Marcus's feet and he fell over, and did not stir from where he lay.

Two surviving soldiers managed to break off and began to run, but one of them fell to one of Laen's arrows. Manny, bleeding yet determined, reached into his saddlebags and whipped out a throwing knife from the box they were in. Taking only a moment to aim it, he threw it with incredible force and accuracy at the soldier's retreating form. It sailed through the air, spinning end over end, and hit the back of the soldier's unprotected neck. The soldier froze in mid-run and keeled over onto the ground.

"Whoa." Marcus said, "Good aim."

"That was left handed!" Manny joked, holding a hand over his wound. He then took it away and found it covered in blood. "He got me!" he cried, and Marcus chuckled as he led his friend over to the cheering elves.

"You fools!" Laen cried as they approached, "You could have been killed!"

"Yeah… but we weren't." Marcus said. "And I guess that's what matters."

Manny nudged Marcus. "Who's the murderer now, eh?" he said, indicating one of the fallen soldiers with a wave of his sword. Marcus realised what he had done, and felt a slight chill as he realised that he, too, was now a killer…

An elf with an eagle feather in his headband was squatting next to the fallen elf leader. He appeared to be still breathing, and the elf with the feather reached into his cloak and withdrew a long, thin magic wand. It was little more than twelve inches of wood, but he muttered something inaudible to the Yoshies and pointed the wand at the fallen elf.

There was a small flash at the tip of the wand, and before the eyes of the two astounded Yoshies the wound the elf had suffered closed up, the blood disappeared, and the healer elf pulled the elf leader's cloak back down over his chest.

Laen called out, "Hey, I need you over here as well!" to the healer, who nodded and ran over to where the two Yoshies stood. Manny took his hand away again to reveal the deep, bleeding cut on his chest, and Marcus held Manny up as the healer had a quick look at the wound.

He pointed the wand at the injury, and in a clear voice said, "Oralia Totalia!". There was another flash, and Manny opened his eyes in surprise as the pain receded and his many wounds healed, leaving only very faint scars where they had been.

"Wow!" Manny exclaimed as he let go of Marcus and stood unsupported. He felt perfectly healthy again, and thanked the elf profusely. He smiled in return and gave a nod, and left to attend to the elvish wounded.

Laen looked down at Manny. "That was a pretty good throw you made." She said, referring to the thrown knife.

"Yeah, well…" Manny said, going slightly pink. "Practice, and all that…"

Marcus rolled his eyes and said, "Shouldn't you go get that knife? You don't want to be left with an incomplete set…"

As Manny walked off to fetch his knife, Marcus started talking to Laen. "Thanks for the help back there." He said. "Do you know magic too?"

Laen shook her head. "No, not everyone here does. It's simple enough to learn but we feel that healing magic is all we need. Anyway, you were pretty brave running into the battle like that."

"I wanted to help Manny." Marcus said, "I figured it was the right thing to do…"

"Well, you certainly helped us, and we would be honoured if you stayed here for the rest of the day. We've got beds, and plenty of food…"

Marcus's eyes lit up, and he licked his lips. "No Yoshi ever turns down an offer of food," he said, "But I'm absolutely exhausted, and Manny probably is as well. So, could you show us to your guest rooms once Manny gets back?"

"You said something about me?" Manny said from behind him as he reached them. "I heard the words 'Beds' and 'Food', and I hope we can have some, preferably in that order…"

Laen chuckled. "Of course, of course. Just follow me."

They followed the elf through the trees and into a wide-open clearing. The Yoshies gasped as they saw the elven settlement. It wasn't very large on the ground, but winding around three or four trees were wooden steps driven into the bark of the trees, leading up to the branches, which supported light wooden structures.

"We once lived in the Crelata Forests, on the western side of Chyrus," Laen said as they walked, "but they were swamped with evil and we came here. There were redwoods back there, and this form of elven construction isn't very well suited to oak trees. But we manage, just…"

She led them towards one of the trees and up the steps around them. They were surprisingly sturdy and gave a very faint creak with every step the Yoshies took, but Laen's footsteps were practically silent.

Laen parted the curtain that covered the entrance to one of the houses as the Yoshies caught up. "We've got another visitor, I hope you don't mind. But she's a Yoshi too, so you ought to get along…"

Manny, who was in front, ran the last bit of the way up the steps and peered in through the doorway. He gasped, and looked back at Marcus, who had nearly reached the top. "You are NOT going to believe who it is." He said, before running into the room.

Marcus cocked his head, but shrugged to himself as he climbed the last few steps and entered the elven house…

**To be continued…**


	7. Chapter Six: The Third Survivor

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 6 = The Third Survivor**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Marcus walked inside, and saw Manny locked in a close embrace with a blue Yoshi the same colour as him. Were it not for the eyelashes and the white saddle on one of them, Marcus would probably have had a hard time telling them apart.

"Manny!" She exclaimed, "I thought you were dead!"

Manny patted her on the back as he hugged her. "We thought you were dead, too…"

"Huh? We?" she replied, breaking off and opening her eyes.

Marcus nodded at her in greeting as she looked over. "I was with him, remember?" She rolled her eyes up in thought, then gave an "Oh, right…" as she brought them down again.

She looked behind him and at the door. Marcus figured she was looking for Laen, but the elf was already inside. "Where's Alziana?" The blue Yoshi asked after a moment.

At the sound of her name, Marcus's heart was filled with grief and he dipped his head. Manny spoke up, saying, "She was at the village. She… didn't make it. We got to her before she died…" he dropped his voice to a low whisper, but Marcus could still hear him as he continued, "But poor Marcus was holding her in his arms when she died… he's heartbroken; and I feel sorry for him…"

The blue Yoshi came over and put a reassuring hand on Marcus's shoulder. "I'm sorry." She said, "I know how much you two loved each other…"

Laen coughed, and said, "How do you all know one another?"

Manny put his arm around the shoulder of the female blue Yoshi and said, "She's an old acquaintance of mine. I knew her for a long time, but I wasn't as close as Marcus was to… oh right, we haven't told you yet…"

Manny quickly recounted their story so far to the elf, with Marcus forcing himself to look up and chip in every so often. When they had finished, Marcus was fighting back tears as he sat on the end of one of the beds.

Laen nodded. "I see… so that's why you're looking for that dark wizard… well, I do pity you; nobody should have to suffer losses like those at a young age, but you will have to be strong if you want to achieve your goal. Regardless, I'll leave you now and give you some privacy." With that, she gave a little wave and left them.

The blue Yoshi tapped Marcus on the shoulder, and he looked up. She was pretty much a regular Yoshi, although she had eyelashes a little earlier than was normal. They were long, and had Alziana lived, Marcus knew she would have grown a set in a year or so's time at the very earliest, three or four years at the most. Her saddle was white for a reason; it was the sign of a medic, although she wasn't fully trained. She was fair and slender, the type Manny looked out for, but Marcus had never paid much attention to her. Her boots were the same reddish-orange as his, but the backs were caked with dirt and strands of grass.

"Hello, Karin." Marcus said, dipping his head again. "I'm glad there's a third survivor…"

Manny asked the question first. "Why aren't you dead?" he said, and she sat down on the adjacent bed.

"On that day," she replied, "I had gone into the forest a little way to try and find some healing herbs… but I couldn't find them. I spent several hours looking for them, and gave up after a bit. But when I got back, the village was no more. I figured you might still be out there, so I ran on the path out of the village… but I didn't find you. So I gave up and presumed you dead, and decided to leave the island. I was running for almost the whole time, except when I was sleeping. I almost got killed, though… I disturbed a pack of wolves in the dark, and ran into something trying to escape… anyway, I couldn't find you I figured you'd got back early and died… I was found by the elves not too long ago, and I saw their magic. It's quite something, isn't it?"

Manny nodded. "They patched me up almost instantly. I had loads of wounds and they healed them all."

Karin nodded. "It looks simple, although it's probably a lot more complex than it looks… but they refuse to teach me."

Manny shrugged again. "Well, you can't have everything. Say, would you like to come with us for the rest of the journey?"

Karin's eyes widened. "You'd take me?"

Marcus slowly said, "I think we've learned our lesson about leaving loved ones and our friends behind. We should take you along for your own safety."

Silence prevailed, and Manny dropped his saddlebags onto one of the beds. "Well, I'm going to get some sleep, but first I'm going to go find Laen and check where we eat. Be right back." He left and Marcus heard the creaking sound of the steps outside as Manny made his descent.

Karin got up and sat down next to Marcus. "Cheer up." She said, "You've still got Manny, at least you weren't left on your own."

"That's not much consolation." Marcus said. "I like Manny, and I don't want to lose him as well, but I'd rather have had… Alziana…"

"You almost did." Karin said. "You could have taken her with you. But really, you couldn't have foreseen what happened. Anyway, what's done is done. Alziana, your relatives… they're all dead… and you've got to move on. Alziana was my friend, too, but you can't dwell on the past too much."

"That's easy enough to say." Marcus muttered. "But… well, almost everything I did was for her. And now she's gone, it feels like I have no purpose any more."

Karin put an arm around him. "You'll find someone else. Time will wash away any wound."

Marcus murmured, "But how much time will it take to forget true love?"

Karin mused for a moment, then said, "Time alone is no good. You need a friend; you need social contact. Just don't stop people from helping you…"

She put her hands on his shoulders, and knelt on the bed behind him. "If you just loosen up a bit… if you just let people talk to you… they can help you. You'll forget, there's no doubt about that, but you should also remember your experiences, so that you'll be ready for the future…"

She gently caressed his shoulders, and Marcus breathed out deeply. His muscles were tired from spending so long walking endlessly across country and over cheap roads, and the recent battle. Karin knew from her medical training what sorts of muscles grew tired, and how to help them. As she continued to rub his shoulders, she said, "Like this. Doesn't this feel good? If you feel good or happy, you can forget easier. But if you get depressed and feel down, then you'll dwell on the past. I believe that's one of Manny's proverbs; 'Those who live in the past are unprepared for the future'."

"That proverb changes every time I hear it…" Marcus murmured. He dipped his head again, but simply because he was tired; Karin's hands were very soothing and he felt drowsy. The bed he was sitting on was comfortable; it must have been stuffed with downy feathers, and it made the mattress springy. The bed sheets were soft, and he could feel them rubbing against his tail and underside. He felt himself drifting off, and he slipped out of Karin's grasp and fell sideways onto the bed. A small smile crept across his face from the comfort, and he grabbed an armful of blanket and held it close to him. His eyelids drooped shut and he began to sleep peacefully.

Karin smiled a little. He looked cute, lying on the bed with his arms around the soft blankets. She started to walk towards her own bed when Manny came back up. "Hey, Karin," he began, "We-"

Karin gestured towards the sleeping Marcus, and Manny nodded. He continued in a whisper, "We can eat whenever we want, when we go down they'll get us something."

Karin nodded as they walked towards their beds, next to Marcus's. Manny took his saddlebags off the bed and laid them on the floor, stepped out of his shoes and flopped onto the bed without taking off his saddle. He laid there for a few moments before drifting asleep, and Karin took a look at the pair of them. Marcus was clearly emotionally worse for wear, judging by his behaviour, but the number of magically healed scars on Manny told her who had been getting in more fights.

She slipped her boots off and removed her saddle before slipping under the covers of her own bed. Elven beds were so soft; she felt like she was lying on a single, massive feather. She, too, drifted asleep, not even conscious of Marcus's sudden snores.

Marcus's dreams were not as pleasant as they seemed, had anyone been watching him lying unmoving on the bed. Images were flashing through his subconscious of the dying Alziana, her dying gasps echoing in his head, the few words she had managed piercing through him. Over and over in his head, behind the other sentences he remembered, her heard her voice saying, "Marcus… Marcus… Marcus…"

Marcus snapped awake, fervently gasping for breath as though he had been being suffocated. After pausing a few moments and catching his breath, he looked around. Karin and Manny were still sleeping peacefully; Manny was lying on his back was his arms stretched out and Karin was lying on her front under the covers, her hands lying next to her head.

It was starting to get dark, so Marcus shook his head and got up. He was lucky that he'd fallen asleep on his left; his flail was still attached to his saddle in the three leather rings, and he'dve woken up very sore if he'd fallen onto his right. He removed his flail and laid it on the bed before groggily walking out the door and down the tree.

When he reached the bottom of the tree he was greeted by the elvish leader he'd seen before, as well as the medic. Marcus was led to a set at an outdoor table, and a few plates of steaming food were put in front of him, and he gratefully ate with speed only attainable via the use of a ten-foot-long tongue. The elvish leader introduced himself as 'Milon', and pressed Marcus into wearily recounting his tale so far. Marcus was brought several glasses of elvish wine and he was quite dizzy after the third, and struggled to stay on his seat as Milon mused over the tale.

"Packs of wolves… Villages being razed… Bandits roaming the wilderness… Mercenaries travelling around… there's some sort of connection, I think. Evil forces have been increasing lately… something bad is happening in the world, and I severely doubt that it's all down to Foryo."

Marcus forced himself to speak. "Uh… yeah… I need to ask about that… how do we get to…" he strained for a moment as he racked his memory, then finally came up with, "…Sansata?"

"You'll need to get off Yoshi's Island first, you know. Just keep going north and you can get to the mainland. You'll need to ask for directions after that; my memory isn't what it used to be and our cartographers haven't got the area mapped out."

Marcus nodded, and said, "By the way… is it true that you elves live a long time?"

Milon gave a sly smile and nodded. "I'm one hundred and forty two, you know. But, mind you, we've got nothing on Yoshies. You live for… what is it, five hundred years?"

"Three hundred at best," Marcus replied, "but that's only the ones who live generally healthily. We get susceptible to illnesses in old age, which tends to bump us off earlier than normal…"

Milon nodded. "Okay… I can see you're having trouble staying upright there. Do you want to go back to your room?"

Marcus tried to get up out of the chair, but lost his balance and fell on his back, half under the table. Milon was about to help him, when a sentry in the trees above shouted out, "To arms! We're under attack from mounted knights!" Milon swore in elvish, drew his sword, and ran off, forgetting completely about Marcus…

**To be continued…**


	8. Chapter Seven: Genocide

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 7 = Genocide**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Manny was snoring away contentedly under the bedsheets, but he could hear something in his head oddly like horses' hooves. He turned over in his sleep, but soon awoke, and was puzzled when the pounding sounds remained in his head. Struggling to get up and out of the bed, he could hear various faint sounds; muffled shouts, metallic clangs, and lots of horses' hooves.

Manny scratched the back of his head for a moment while he put his saddle back on, then he gently shook Karin to wake her up, and she unsteadily got up and put her things back on. Manny went to Marcus's bed, but found that he was gone; his flail was on the mattress, but everything else was gone, including the brown Yoshi himself.

"Oh? Are we alone?" Karin murmured from behind him. Manny turned around and nodded, picking up Marcus's flail and saddlebagging it as he did so. The air was eerily calm, even for the early evening, and since the curtains were drawn over the doors and windows, the room was quite dark, and Manny could only make out Karin's bright eyes and the vague outline of her body. He took her hand and began to lead her out of the door, but she pulled him back.

"You don't have to hold my hand, you know, I'm not a little girl." She said indignantly. Manny shrugged and gave a quick apology, and he walked towards the door again and parted the curtain. He gasped as he looked outside, and looked back over his shoulder to the blue-skinned Yoshi behind him, and said, "There's a massive fight going on. Marcus must be down there, but he doesn't have his flail!"

"That can't be good." Karin said, stepping up to him and looking out over his shoulder. "Give it to me; I can use it until we find him."

Manny swiftly removed Marcus's flail from his saddlebags and gave it to Karin, before drawing his own sword with a faint shring. He ran down the stairs with Karin in tow, intent on reaching the bottom of the massive tree they were stuck at the top of.

Halfway down, a lone human ran into them and engaged Manny in a fight. It was short and decisive; Manny was no match for the armoured soldier and a powerful swing that Manny caught on his sword sent him over the railing and down towards the ground. Karin cried out and leapt off the stairs, and both of them fluttered before they hit the ground, landing softly on the leaf-covered soil.

But now they were in the midst of all the fighting; arrows shot overhead and the clangs of steel were all around them. In one of the trees nearby, a determined Laen and a small group of archers were furiously firing arrows at the knights and their armoured chargers, but the arrows were ineffective against the plated armour.

"Keep an eye out for Marcus." Manny muttered to Karin. "He's got to be out there somewhere, dead or alive."

"No, we're no match for these soldiers. Let's get out of here."

"I'm not leaving Marcus. He's my friend."

"Then let's try to get up to where Laen is so that we can look around."

There were many fires that had been started in the elven settlement, but none of them were coloured magical ones like the fires at the Shoreside village.  Manny and Karin wove their way through the battlefield, narrowly missed by stray arrows and sweating from the heat of the fires. They finally reached the bottom of the tree where Laen was, but they were accosted from behind by an armoured knight.

Karin gave a cry and leapt to the side out of the path of the knight's sword, and Manny deftly swung his sword at the horse, but it bounced off the armour and left nothing more than a scratch. The knight attempted to cut down Manny, but he managed to dodge the charge. Karin jumped and swung the flail with all her might at the knight, but her lack of experience with it made the swipe ineffective.

As the knight laboriously turned towards Karin again, Manny cried, "Swing it one-handed! I've seen Marcus do it; don't hold one hand on one end and the other at the other end! If you're going to hold it two handed keep both hands at the same end!"

Karin rolled to the side to avoid the knight's brief charge, before getting to her feet and scrabbling behind a collapsed dinner table. Manny cursed her under his breath for her cowardice as he made a swipe at the horse's legs, but the knight pulled back and Manny missed by a considerable distance. He charged forward again and Manny leapt out of the way, rolling on the ground as he landed and nimbly springing to his feet once more.

Karin couldn't bear to watch and looked down, glancing away from the fight that was sure to end badly. But on the ground, she saw a large, reddish-orange shoe and a brown ankle protruding from under the collapsed table. Only Yoshi shoes were that big, and Karin gasped as she realised that Marcus must be caught under the table. She heaved it off of him as she heard another shout from Manny, who was still alive and getting out of the way, and she lifted it up far enough to prop it up with one of the bits of a broken table leg.

She grabbed Marcus's foot and pulled, and she dragged him out from under the table and had a look at him. He had a nasty cut on the side of his head, and as she began to tend it his eyes fluttered open; he looked around wildly, and then winced as Karin wiped the blood off his wound.

"Where's Manny?" he asked, and Karin pointed behind him. Marcus sat up and looked over his shoulder to see his friend almost get decapitated by a slice from an armoured knight, and as he leapt to his feet he grabbed his flail out of Karin's hands, and leapt over the broken table.

Manny looked up as he got to his feet once more, and gasped. "Marcus!" he cried. He was about to say something else, but Marcus shouted, "Look out!" as the knight charged again, and Manny's leap of self-preservation took him straight onto the ground next to Marcus.

Marcus would normally have come up with some quip to bug Manny, but there was no time for that now. Marcus ran to the left and Manny to the right, and the knight went for his blue quarry again, determined to kill him this time before taking on the new opponent.

But, in Marcus's hands, the flail was much more effective, and Marcus's leap and subsequent sideways swing struck the armour with a loud metallic clang, unbalanced the knight and knocked him out of the horse's saddle. The startled horse bolted, nearly knocking down Manny, and the enraged Marcus swung his flail two-handed at the fallen knight with such force that the spiked balls broke the nose guard on the helmet and smashed into his face. The knight gave a brief cry but then lay still, and Marcus kicked him, muttering, "Nobody attacks my friends and gets away with it."

Manny ran up to him and pulled him over to where Karin was still hiding. He simply muttered, "…Useless coward!…" at her as he pulled her up, and they scrambled up the rope ladder at the back of the tree and were admitted by one of the archers. They found themselves on a platform of wooden planks from which Laen and four other archers were firing into the battle, but didn't appear to be having much success.

Laen looked over her shoulder as she took a full quiver of arrows from the back of the platform. "There you are! So you're still alive, that's good. We're losing here; it doesn't look like we're going to have any chance of beating back the attackers. They came for their friends, who we'd already killed, remember? So, they attacked when they found the bodies. Typical, just typical…"

She notched an arrow and went back to firing at the attackers, and one of the other archers collapsed to catch her breath. Marcus noticed that these were all female elves, but didn't have time to ponder anything else before an arrow whizzed past them and only just missed Laen, and the three startled Yoshies laid flat on the floor as another arrow narrowly missed a different archer.

"Laen!" one of the archers cried, "They're picking up the weapons of our dead. We're doomed if they've got bows and arr-"

An arrow pierced the air and the Yoshies heard a sickening sound as an arrow emerged from the elf's body. She gasped for a moment, before slumping forward, breaking the arrow as she landed, and Laen bent down to her. "Myrla!" she cried, "Myrla, speak to me…"

Another archer fell as she was talking, and the remaining two ducked down for cover. Marcus looked at Manny, who said, "I guess it ends here, Marcus. Pity, though. I kinda hoped I'd go down in the midst of a battle with slain foes lying all around me. I'd hate to get killed by magic or something without even killing someone first; that'd suck majorly."

"Same old Manny." Marcus murmured. "Always the glory hog."

"Glory hog? Me? Never." Manny said. "I just want to have some fun before I find out what happens next in terms of life, death, and the afterlife."

Karin looked over Manny's shoulder at Marcus, and said, "Sorry about hiding back there, but at least I found Marcus…"

"Yeah, thanks for that; now I get to die full of arrows instead of being crushed under a table or being left to starve. Marvellous." Marcus said, with a distinct sarcastic tone in his voice.

Manny shrugged and said, "At least you're not going out in as much pain as Alziana's exit."

"…Don't… remind me… of that… please…" Marcus muttered, dipping his head. "It still hurts me…"

Laen was the only elf alive on the platform now, and she got down and lay flat on the platform, like the Yoshies were doing. "Well, if only we could run, I think that would be the best option."

"Well, we could run, it's just that we'd be cut down before we got out of here." Manny said.

"Whatever." Laen said irritably, her fancy way of speaking dispensed with. "I hate not being able to use magic…"

"I don't suppose you've got time for a crash course in magic then?" Karin asked.

Laen chuckled and said, "It's worth a shot. I still remember a few incantations. Okay, all you need is something that acts like a wand, something long and straight."

Marcus and Manny gave shifty eyed looks to Karin, holding their weapons away from her. She sighed and plucked one of the arrows out of a fallen archer's quiver, and said, "Will this do?"

"Sure," Laen said, "Just be careful with it. Now then, let's try something simple. Try healing that wound on Marcus."

Marcus crawled forward, ignoring the arrows soaring back and forth through the air above them, sending leaves falling down. Karin pointed the arrow at Marcus's head, and said, "Okay, now what?"

"Be careful where you point that thing." Marcus said, "I'd like to keep my eyes so I can at least see who disembowels me."

Laen ignored the remark and said, "Well then, just hold it steady, and say the healing incantation… it's… uhm…"

"Oralia Totalia, right?" Manny said. Laen nodded, and said, "Yes, that's it, it slipped my mind."

Karin thought, here goes nothing… and slowly said, "Oralia Totalia!". 

Before the startled eyes of Laen and Manny, the wound on the side of Marcus's head closed up, and a barely noticeable scar remained.

"Wow!" Karin exclaimed, "I did magic! I cast magic!"

Laen grumbled to herself for a moment, before saying, "Okay then, let's try one that'll get us out of here. I remember the physical shield spell; it's Olasta Physica. Just pray to whatever god of Yoshies there is that there aren't any magic users out there. If a magic spell hits a physical shield it explodes. Spectacularly."

"Sorry, I'm an atheist." Marcus said, and Manny smacked him on the back of his head. "It was just an expression, you fool." He said, as Marcus was about to hit him back.

Unperturbed, Karin pointed the arrow at Laen and said, "Olasta Physica!" in a determined voice. A semi-translucent shield appeared in front of Laen, and she got to her knees. Laen nodded at them and moved her left hand around, and the shield followed it. Although the shield only covered half of her body, she seemed to be able to move it around well enough to block any attack. After casting the spell on herself and her companions, a triumphant Karin stood up and handed the arrow to Laen, who put it in her quiver.

An arrow smashed against Manny's shield, and he stepped back in a reflex action. Laen pointed behind her and said, "Alright, if we go that way, we'll be heading north. On the count of three, let's run."

"Screw it," Manny said, holding his sword aloft, "Let's go now!"

Manny ran over the edge of the platform, followed by Marcus, Laen, and Karin. The Yoshies landed softly and Laen silently, and they ran as fast as they could, with Marcus and his powerful legs gaining the lead. Laen could barely keep up with Karin, and as the infuriated shouts of the attackers who couldn't hurt them began to get further and further behind them, they found themselves lost in the darkness of the Black Forest. The light from the fires wasn't reaching their location, but they couldn't hear the sounds of any pursuers.

Laen looked back mournfully, and clenched her left hand into a fist. "Assuming they all died, I'm the last elf. For my people, I will travel with you on whatever mission this is. I will join your quest for vengeance."

Karin, in between gasps, managed, "You two… are the… only friends… I have left… so I'm… going to… go with… you both."

Manny nodded in the darkness. "We need all the help we can get. Let's hope we can all live through this, eh Marcus? …Marcus?"

"I'm over here." Came Marcus's voice. "I've found a clearing, let's try to get some sleep. It got pretty confusing back there, so I don't think they'll be able to track us."

They followed Marcus's voice to find a small clearing, into which moonlight was shining through a tiny gap in the forest canopy. The Yoshies bedded down and bid each other good night, and a restless and distressed Laen stayed up to keep watch. She had lost everything she'd ever had, like her new companions, and she would never rest until she completed their quest with them.

As she finally began to drift asleep, she seethed with rage. For she knew whom these knights reported to; the original soldiers that had attempted to kill Milon were working for one man whom the elves loathed.

The Dark Wizard, Foryo.

**To be continued…**


	9. Chapter Eight: Flashback In The Black Fo...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 8 = Flashback in the Black Forest**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.  
  
Note: If you want to see these stories in their original format, you can go to and look under 'Fan Fiction'_

Manny awoke just as the morning light began to stream through the dense forest canopy and into the small clearing where he and his companions had taken shelter. He sat up and looked around; Laen was dozing with her back propped up against a tree, Marcus was lying on his front mumbling delusively to himself, and Karin was nowhere to be seen.

Manny scratched the back of his head. Where had she got to? She couldn't have gone very far, or she would have woken someone up to tell them. Manny got to his feet and stretched sleepily, put his saddlebags back on his saddle, and prepared to look for Karin.

He spotted a set of conspicuous footprints leading away from the clearing, and followed them. Sure enough, they led straight to the blue medic Yoshi, who was hunched over at the edge of a stream, sipping water from the clear, silvery river.

"Hey." Manny said in greeting, and she looked over her shoulder. "Hello." She replied, getting to her feet and brushing mud off her knees. "I was really thirsty when I woke up, so…"

Manny nodded and made his way to the stream, taking a few handfuls of water and drinking them. He stood up again afterwards and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm, before turning back to Karin, took her hand, and began to lead her back to the clearing.

He engaged her in conversation as they walked, but she seemed reluctant to move very quickly. Eventually Manny stopped and let go of her hand and said, "Hey, hurry up, would you?"

She dipped her head and tried to look pitiful. "Sorry, sorry…" she murmured. "I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"Oh." Manny replied. "Okay… I was just wondering why you were walking so slowly."

She stepped up to him and ran a hand over the healed scars on his chest. "You're taking quite a few injuries, aren't you?"

"Yeah…" he replied, "But it's nothing. They're healed anyway."

She shivered, and put her hands around Manny's waist, just above his saddle. "It's cold out here… I wish it wasn't so late in the year…"

"What are you talking about?" Manny said. "It's not that cold, you know."

Karin mentally cursed Manny for being so dense. "Well, I find it cold. I guess you're just warmer under all that muscle." She said, nodding her head towards one of his arms.

"Nah, you're just imagining things." He said, putting his arms around her. "Besides, there's not much point in me trying to warm you. Being a cold-blooded dinosaur doesn't really help."

"Yeah, but it's the gesture that counts…" she said, pulling him closer to her.

Manny finally got the message and hugged her tightly. "Well then, how much does this count for?" He said slyly.

"A bit…" she said, "But not as much as this would."

She put her arms around his shoulders, and pulled him as close to her as possible. The two of them began to kiss, unaware that they were being watched from the trees to Manny's left.

Marcus, having woken to find himself alone with Laen, had also followed the footprints leading out of the clearing, and had just found the pair of blue Yoshies in each other's arms. He watched them for a minute, and then dejectedly walked back towards the clearing. Once there, he sat down on the ground and buried his head in his hands.

This is so unfair…he thought, Alziana is dead, Manny's my only living friend… and he isn't burdened with grief. He's got Karin now, and I've got nobody. Why does it have to be this way? Manny's always had better luck than I have…

He shook his head as he took his hands away. I want this all to be a horrible nightmare; I want to wake up back in the shoreside village, with Manny eager to do something fun and Alziana at my side… but this isn't a dream; it's reality, and what I choose to do with myself, if anything, is permanent…

Marcus closed his eyes and lay flat on his back. Delving into the depths of his memory, he tried to remember the happier times he had spent with Alziana… his fondest memories of her, times long passed…

*  *  *

"Hey, Marcus… get up, I've got something for you…"

Marcus struggled to rouse himself from his slumber; he was tired from the previous day's excursion with Manny, and he wanted to recuperate his strength. "Just a few more minutes, Alziana… just a few more minutes…"

He heard the door open and close, and a few moments later a pair of gentle hands shook him where he lay. "Come on, it's afternoon already. Get up, this is important."

Marcus groaned and stirred a little, but didn't get up. "Get up, lazy. You can sleep later." She said as she shook him again.

Marcus opened his eyes a bit and rolled over onto his back. As his vision became less and less blurry, he could make out a large pink form in front of him. The fourteen-year-old female Yoshi was standing patiently next to the bed, holding something in her arms.

"Surely you haven't forgotten what day it is today, Marcus?"

"Huh? I don't remember anything right now…"

"Marcus, it's your fourteenth birthday! Come on, I've got something special planned…"

Marcus sat up in his bed before getting out of it and standing next to Alziana. He quickly slipped his shoes on and, with Alziana's help, strapped his saddle to his back, and quickly took his saddlebags and placed them on top of it. Alziana then handed him the package in her arms, and said, "This is Manny's gift, by the way. He wanted me to give it to you since he's busy today."

"Ah, yes," Marcus said, "He's trying to repair the hole in his roof. I knew he'd climb up onto it one too many times eventually, and sure enough…"

"Perhaps it will discourage him from trying to spy on us with his binoculars." She replied. "Anyway, aren't you going to open that?"

Marcus tore the wrapping off the present and found a new set of shoes inside. "Hey, these are good, the soles are wearing off mine…"

Marcus switched his boots for his new set, and discarded the empty box and torn wrapping. "What about you?"

"You ought to know me better… I've got something very special to give you, but not here. Just take me a little bit into the forest, would you?"

"Okay, okay, but just a little bit."

"Thank you…"

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick kiss before letting go of him and stepping outside. Marcus followed her and, after readying his flail, the two of them set off into the forest.

As soon as they found a clearing approximately ten minutes later, Alziana put a hand on Marcus's shoulder to indicate he should stop. "Now then, close your eyes…" Marcus did as she told him, anticipating the surprise gift. "Okay, just wait a moment…"

He heard shuffling sounds and a few light metal clinks, and then Alziana's soft voice came to him, saying, "Okay, turn around, but don't open your eyes just yet…"

He did so, then heard the sound of her boots plodding towards him, and felt Alziana's hands on his back. The weight on his spine was lifted, and he said, "Hey, did you just take me saddle off?"

"Only for a moment, Marcus, only for a moment…" she said as she put his saddle into his hands, and he resisted the urge to look and see what she was doing. He heard more shuffling, and then Alziana said, "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Marcus eagerly opened them and looked around. Alziana was standing right in front of him, holding her saddle in one hand, and she had something tightly clasped in her other. She gave him a sheepish smile, then opened her hand and showed him what she had.

It was a small item of jewellery. It was a large gem partially surrounded by wrought gold, and the gem itself was a deep, dark blue. Alziana put her saddle under her arm and used her free hand to reach over to it, and pry it apart before Marcus's eyes. It split neatly into two halves, and she offered one to him.

"We've been going out for about six months now… this is really working well, and I'm glad we're still together… so, I got this for you."

He gratefully took it but wondered what it was. Almost reading his mind, she said, "I bought it from a merchant; I think it's called an 'Orihalca'. It's made from a gemstone taken from one of the mines in the southern lands. It's beautiful, isn't it? They make them into little things like these. There's a legend that if a loving couple each takes one half of the same gem, they will love each other forever."

Marcus gave a sly smile as he looked back up at Alziana. "Aw, I love you already anyway…"

She gave a giggle and turned hers around to reveal a small pin on the back of her half. "Pin it to the underside of your saddle, Marcus…" She said, demonstrating herself. Yoshi saddles were designed so that small objects could fit under them, but for larger objects or large amounts of possessions saddlebags were necessary.

Marcus quickly did as she showed him, and the two of them put their saddles back on, enlisting the help of the other. They kissed for a little while, then Alziana asked him to take her back to the village.

But on the way back, they found a wolf cub on the path to the village. Marcus put his arm out to stop Alziana, and held his flail ready; it was smaller than a regular wolf but it still could be dangerous if it attacked. Marcus saw its ears prick up, and it gave a low growl.

"Step back slowly, Alziana." Marcus said quietly, and he looked the wolf cub in the eyes. He could take it on and probably win, but what if it got past him and attacked his girlfriend?

The cub took a step forwards, but Marcus held his ground. He heard Alziana's voice come from behind him, saying, "Marcus, please don't do anything stupid… I'll be okay, just don't get yourself hurt…"

Marcus took a step forward, and the cub stopped. Without moving his head, Marcus told Alziana, "I'll keep it busy, get back to the village. I'll be fine, don't worry about me…"

He heard undergrowth being parted as Alziana obligingly walked off in one direction. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief, but then Alziana stepped on a dry branch and the wolf turned its head towards the sound. It turned away from Marcus and began to head for the pink Yoshi, and his mind raced. He had to protect her! Without a further moment's hesitation, he leapt forward and swung his flail at the wolf cub.

He got a good hit in, but the wolf leapt back with a yelp and turned back towards him. It bared its teeth for a moment before making a lunge for Marcus's throat.

It was more powerful than it looked; even though Marcus brought his flail up to protect him, he was still brought down by the force of the lunge and he heard Alziana cry out as he hit the ground. He struggled furiously and tried to fling the wolf cub off of his body before he got hurt.

He felt a sudden pain in his side, but managed to throw the wolf off of him. He leapt to his feet and saw blood dripping from one of the wolf's paws, and braced himself as the wolf bared its teeth again.

But then, there was a cry of anger, and before Marcus could blink the wolf cub was bleeding from a massive wound on its side. Marcus quickly looked up and saw his friend holding his sword out in front of him, preparing to make another strike, but the cub ran off defeated, yelping with pain.

"Better late than never, eh?" Marcus said as Manny wiped his blade on a nearby plant leaf.

"Shut up. You should be glad that I've got such bad habits as spying on you a lot of the time." He replied, before looking up. He gasped as he looked at his friend, and Marcus said, "What?"

Alziana came running over. "Marcus, you're bleeding!" She cried, and Marcus looked down to see a large claw slash on his side, oozing blood down his leg. He became conscious of the injury and gripped the wound with his right hand, dropping his flail in pain.

Manny picked up Marcus's flail and glanced at the injury. "Can you walk?" he asked, sheathing his sword.

"Yes, yes, I can walk, I'm fine…"

Alziana leapt at him and hugged him tightly, knocking him back a few steps. "Oh, Marcus, I thought you wouldn't make it… I was so helpless, I'm sorry, I should've done something…"

He patted her on the back with his unbloodied hand. "No, no, you couldn't have done anything anyway, don't worry about it…"

She sniffled, and Marcus saw Manny roll his eyes as tears streamed down Alziana's cheeks. She let go of him, and they made their way back to the village.

As they got close, Manny said, "I'll run ahead and get Karin…she should be able to patch you up." before sprinting forward and away from them. Alziana put an arm around Marcus, and said, "Marcus… if anything ever happens to you, I don't know what I'll do…"

"You'll be fine, 'cause nothing is going to happen to me."

"What if something happens to me? I…"

"Nothing is going to happen to you, either, Alziana. We'll be together for a long time yet. Nothing is going to take us away from each other, nothing at all… just so long as you stay in the village, where it's safe…"

*  *  *

What bitter irony, Marcus thought as he came back to the real world, that she would be in the village when she died, and not somewhere I'd normally consider dangerous.

He removed his saddle and flipped it over to reveal his half of the orihalca. The other half he'd left on Alziana when he'd buried her in the village after her untimely death. He rubbed it gently and held it in the light, where it sparkled slightly. He spotted the ring on his finger as he did so, and took the string of pearls out of his saddlebags and laid it on the saddle underside, next to the gem.

A ring, a necklace, half a gemstone, and memories; that was all he had left now to remind him that Alziana had ever been. He quickly returned the necklace to his saddlebags, struggled for a moment to put his saddle on, and put his saddlebags back on.

He waited for Manny to show up before rousing Laen and preparing to leave. He didn't ask Manny anything; he knew already, and didn't feel any need to press the matter, and walked in front of them so he wouldn't have to see them holding hands as they finally broke through the far side of the black forest, and out onto open land once more…

**To be continued…**


	10. Chapter Nine: City Patrol

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 9 = City Patrol**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

"We're lost, you know that, right?"

Manny sighed. "No, Karin, we're not lost, this just looks like the same open fields that we've crossed for the last… however long it's been."

"Great." She moaned, "Not only are we lost, but we don't know how long we've BEEN lost."

"We're not lost. Just ambling."

Laen, at the front of the group, ignored the argument behind her and continued walking at a brisk pace along the empty fields, her bow strapped to her back. Everyone she had ever known was now dead, and she was the last elf outside the Crelata forests, but even so, even in those forests the elven population was far from bustling.

"No, Manny, we're lost. You see, we've been walking and walking for… I have no idea how long, and we haven't seen any landmarks or buildings or-"

"Karin, turn around. The black forest ain't getting any closer, is it? We're not lost. Just between here and there."

"And 'there' is…?"

"Ultimately Sansata, but for now I'll settle for Lince, the biggest Yoshian city in the whole of Chyrus."

"I'd heard of that place, but how big is it really?"

"Heh, we won't be able to get off the island without at least seeing it, it's that big. We'll just keep walking 'till we get there."

"If we get there."

"We're not lost, Karin."

"That's a lie, and you know it."

"It's not a lie. It's a terminological inexactitude…"

Marcus, strolling along behind the pair of blue Yoshies, was lost in thought. He was trying desperately not to look at the two of them holding hands, keeping his gaze focused just above them, and wondering to himself whether 'inexactitude' was a real word or not.

He was pretty sure that they were lost, too, but didn't want to say anything. Granted, they weren't in the black forest, or any other forest for that matter, but still, the countryside seemed to look a lot like what it had done for the past few days. However many they numbered.

Manny and Karin seemed to be getting close to each other, which both annoyed and depressed Marcus. While he was glad for the company and happy for his friend, their feelings for each other reminded him of what he had loved and lost… he remembered a proverb along the lines of 'Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all', but Marcus wasn't so sure about that. It would take a long time for the pain to go away.

Marcus was in the middle of another thought when Laen suddenly called back, "Look out, city guard patrol up ahead! They don't look friendly, but it does mean that we're close to the city."

The trio of Yoshies caught up to Laen and spotted a six-person patrol up ahead composed entirely of armed humans under mediocre armour. Their leader, hardly discernible under his armour, didn't seem to look too happy, even at the distance he was approaching from.

"This doesn't look good." Marcus said. "Hmm… quick, Manny, draw your sword. Let's pretend we're ferals; they may let us by without any hassle."

"Ferals?" Laen asked.

"Yeah," Manny replied, "Not all Yoshies live in cities or villages. There are still some wild ones out there who don't refuse to speak the common tongue and live relatively simple lives. They've been dying out though, mostly via genocide, but there's still a few of them about. They probably won't care too much about ferals; they figure they're all too simple-minded to cause any trouble."

"But," Laen argued, "If they don't speak the common tongue how will these guards know that you're not just being silent?"

"Feral Yoshies speak their own language. We call it 'Old Yoshi', because that's what we all spoke before the humans basically took over. All Yoshies can speak it, but we just use the common tongue because we're more used to it. It relies heavily on sounds that can only be produced with a ten-foot tongue, which is why we used to use it all the time. Now then, they're getting close, so just be quiet…"

They waited where they were until the patrol reached them, whereupon they were surrounded.  Marcus narrowed his eyes at the leader and said something Laen found incomprehensible, and the leader paused for a moment before looking to his right at one of his comrades.

"What's he saying?" he asked, and the soldiers shrugged, producing a wide variety of metallic noises. He then turned to Laen and said to her, "Did you understand any of that?"

"No, I didn't. I was wandering around and I came across these ferals. They seemed pretty tough, but I gave them some fruit and they befriended me."

Manny leaned over to Marcus and said, in old Yoshi, "Let's not forget that either. Ferals are stereotypically fruit-loving, extremely impatient, overactive Yoshies. We'd better keep this disguise up well."

Marcus nodded back and replied, "Yeah, and don't even whisper to me in the common tongue. Humans sometimes have sharper ears than you might think."

"I don't know about that one." One of the soldiers said, gesturing towards Manny. "He looks like he's got attitude, a little bit more than a normal feral would…"

"No, you fool," A third soldier responded, "Ferals have more attitude than regular Yoshies."

"You two don't know anything about Yoshies." A fourth soldier interjected. "Ferals could be anything, but the last time I checked, ferals didn't wear saddles."

"Now that is just plain wrong." The leader said. "Regardless, we've still got our orders to imprison any suspicious characters we come across…"

Laen looked questioningly at the leader. "Suspicious? I'm just a traveller. From what I gathered from other Yoshies I ran into, a feral village was recently burned and these three were most likely survivors."

"Well, whatever." The leader replied with a shrug. "Point is, ferals don't usually like people, you see… and dressed up like that, you sure seem suspicious. I couldn't care less about ferals and burned Yoshi villages or whatever, but the point is, we've been hired by the baron of Lince to look out for any strange travellers, IN PARTICULAR a brown Yoshi and a blue one!"

"Brown and blue Yoshies aren't exactly rare." Laen replied coolly, whilst wondering to herself why Marcus and Manny were wanted Yoshies. "Besides, I doubt you'd ever be interested in ferals."

Marcus was getting impatient with the delay, and looked over to Manny again, who shrugged. Karin was keeping still and silent next to Manny, and she nervously grasped his hand.

"…Regardless," the leader said, still arguing with Laen, "We outnumber you six to four, and none of you have much in the way of armour, weapons, or… anything, really. So, I think you'll be coming along with us."

"I thought that humans were scarce around these parts."

"Oh, they were, but the baron of Lince had a change of heart, you see. He's taken to hiring human guards now for security, and is keeping a lookout for ruffians like you who're bound to cause trouble."

Speaking in old Yoshi, Marcus turned to Manny and mumbled, "This sounds very suspicious. Last I heard, the Yoshi baron here never hired humans and kept them out of the city as much as possible. Lince is known as the 'City Of Yoshies' simply because Yoshies are really the only ones allowed in."

"I agree." Manny replied, "I don't like the sound of this…"

The frustrated leader spun to look at the Yoshies and shouted, "Will you shut up!" at them in a blind rage. Marcus blinked for a moment, then turned to Manny and casually said in old Yoshi, "Great, now he's shouting, like that would make any difference if we really were ferals…"

It was the final straw; the leader stepped forward and brought a steel-clad foot down on Marcus's left shoe, and Marcus cried out in pain, pulling his foot out quickly, before swearing quite fluently in the common tongue at the guard. He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth as he realised his mistake, but it was too late.

"Aha!" the leader cried. "So, they're not ferals at all! I call that sufficient evidence; disarm them and take them back to Lince!"

Manny quickly attempted to swing his sword, but a steel gauntlet hit him on the back of the head and he was knocked out as Laen was forced to the ground. Another soldier quickly put Karin in an arm lock, and Marcus barely had time to register what happened before he, too, was hit in the back of the head, and he blacked out…

**To be continued…**


	11. Chapter Ten: Jail Break

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 10 = Jail Break**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Darkness.

Nothing but total, complete darkness.

Am I dead? Marcus thought to himself.

Black. Nothing but emptiness. Marcus couldn't believe that he'd died already, when there was so much more to be done, so much left to finish… even though he was dead, he was still without Alziana, and now without Manny. He was on his own, with nobody to…

"Marcus!"

"Wh… what… who is it…?"

"Marcus…"

Someone was calling out to him, but not from the real world…

"Mar-cus!"

"Who… who is there…?"

I'm dreaming again, Marcus thought, I can never escape from this torture I have to suffer every day…

"Marcus?"

"Is that… Al… Alziana…?"

"Marcus…?"

Yes, it's her… oh, how I miss her… why must she haunt me when I try to escape…

"Marcus…!"

Why did she have to leave me… what irony, that now I want her to leave me once more…

"Please… leave me alone, Alziana…"

"Marcus… Listen…"

"Huh?"

Marcus nearly snapped awake from the sudden shock. Up until now, he had only heard Alziana call his name in his frequent nightmares, but she had just acknowledged him…

"Marcus… Listen to me…"

"I'm listening, Alziana."

"Listen… listen to me… please listen…"

"I… I said I'm listening."

"Just listen… you must listen…"

Marcus couldn't understand what was going on. He found himself illuminated in a column of light, revealing that he was on a cold, stone floor, and he shivered as a freezing wind blew over him… desperately, he tried to force himself to wake from this terrible nightmare…

But, before he could, suddenly a figure lunged at him from the darkness. Marcus was petrified with terror as he identified the figure and what has happened to it; Alziana's eyes had no pupils, the blood was still running across her chest, the gash on her nose still oozing blood, and the black bruises on her chest still clear. She grabbed his shoulders, and Marcus's blood froze as she did so for the smallest of moments before he forced himself out of the horrifying nightmare.

"C'mon, Marcus, wake up."

Manny was gently shaking Marcus, trying to rouse him from where he lay on the smooth granite. He was muttering something, but it was inaudible to Manny, and he continued to shake Marcus until the brown Yoshi's eyes fluttered open as he cried out. He then quickly reached down and touched Marcus's forehead, which was covered in sweat and extremely hot. "Marcus, are you okay?" he asked as he pulled his friend up into a sitting position.

Marcus suddenly burst into tears and buried his head in his hands. Manny rolled his eyes to himself for a moment before bending over and putting a hand on Marcus's shoulder. "Hey, hey, it's okay, it was just a bad dream…"

"She's haunting me!" Marcus cried. "I can't escape from her… she's stalking me in my dreams…"

"Who, Marcus?" Manny asked.

"Alziana!" Marcus sniffled. "She… she just… she was dead, but…" Marcus shuddered as he recalled what he had just seen, and Manny sat down next to Marcus and put an arm around him.

"It's okay, you're awake, albeit in a prison somewhere."

Marcus stopped crying and looked up. It was true; there was cold, damp, partially moss-covered wall on three sides of the chamber, and iron bars blocking their way out of the fourth. The floor was equally cold, made from slabs of granite, and water was running across it here and there, while the ceiling was hidden by the shadows produced from the single torch just outside their cell. There were two small straw mattresses on the floor, one of which Manny had been resting on, and aside from that the cell was bare.

Marcus gave a despairing moan as he realised that the two of them had been stripped of their belongings; their weapons, saddles, saddlebags, and even Marcus's ring had been taken from them. He looked down at his shoeless feet and gazed absently at his talons; all Yoshies had talons, which probably gave them traction before they started wearing shoes, but they had a tendency to snag on fabrics and such, so Yoshies tended to wear shoes. That, and the fact that walking bare-footed over long distances tended to make the soles of their feet sore.

"What are we going to do, Manny?" Marcus asked, though he anticipated the answer before it came to him.

"I don't know, Marcus… I really don't know…"

Manny went and sat down on one of the mattresses, while Marcus got up and looked outside the cell through the bars. They were right at a junction; to the left there was a dimly lit passage, and straight forward lead right to a guardroom. Less than a few feet away was a burly guardsman sitting at a table, on which Marcus and Manny's things were piled. Marcus seethed quietly to himself as the guard searched his saddlebags and gave a cry of delight as he pulled out the pearl necklace, which he pocketed.

Looting our things, how low can you get? Marcus thought to himself.

The guard also took all the money there was in the saddlebags, before putting them back on the table and reaching for Marcus's saddle. He looked at it for a moment before flipping it over, and removing the orihalca with a sly smile. Marcus narrowed his eyes and cried, "Hey! That's mine; put it back!"

The guard looked around for a minute, before spotting the poorly lit brown Yoshi standing right up against the bars. He cackled as he pocketed the orihalca, before picking Manny's sword off the table and walking towards him with it. Marcus nervously began to step back, but it was too late.

"Heh, stupid dinosaurs." The guard said with a distinct dialect. "Yeh see, what I finds is mine to keeps, understand? Maybe if yeh hadn't been breakin' the law or whatever it was yeh was doin', yeh wouldn't be stuck here, would yeh?"

"We didn't DO anything." Marcus protested. "One of your damned patrols caught us and threw us in here. Haven't you humans got anything better to do?"

"Heh, nice try, but yeh ain't gettin' me to open the door by makin' me angry. I'll just cut off yer rations, then we'll see who gets the last laugh."

Marcus stepped forward again. "If you're so smart, how come Laen and Karin have already gotten out and are standing right behind you?"

The guard paused for a moment before what Marcus said clicked, and he spun around quickly and brandished Manny's sword. It was a bluff, but before he could turn back again Marcus's tongue was wrapped around his neck, choking him.

"The… tongues… I forgot… about… the tongues…!" he gasped, before Marcus pulled backwards sharply. The back of the guard's head hit the iron bars with a reverberating clang, knocking him unconscious.

Manny gave a low whistle and nodded approvingly. "Nice trick, Redeye. Think he's got the keys on him?"

Marcus was about to make a retort as he let go and retracted his tongue, but instead leant over and put his hands through the vertical bars, searching the human for a key ring. He found Alziana's necklace and the orihalca, before locating the ring of keys on the other side of the guard's belt. Marcus pulled his hand back through the bars and held the keys up to Manny, who got up abruptly and ran over.

"There's, like, fifty keys there." He said sceptically, but Marcus had already moved over to the door and was attempting to unlock it from the other side, putting his hand back through the bars again. The fifth key turned in the lock with a light click, and Marcus brought his hands back again as the door swung open.

Manny went to get their things while Marcus reclaimed all their valuables from the guard's many pockets. He put Alziana's necklace around his wrist and put the orihalca on the ground as he searched, and found their money, three small knives, a few items of jewellery he presumed to be Karin's, and a pair of binoculars.

"Huh?" He said out loud as he looked at them. "Manny, I thought you said you didn't have your binoculars with you."

Manny came running over with his arms full of equipment. "I didn't. I'm pretty sure I left them at home. Maybe Karin picked them up before she left?"

Marcus shrugged as he found his ring and put it back on. Even in the dim light, the four tiny rubies seemed to sparkle. He shivered as he remembered his recent nightmare, but quickly put it aside as he found extra money in one pocket and what turned out to be a city map in another. He added them to the pile of things, feeling no guilt in stealing from the guard, and then in the final pocket he found a silver-chained necklace, from which hung what looked to be a single rune, neither from the common language or old Yoshi, but Marcus nonchalantly added it to the things they'd taken.

The two Yoshies put their saddles and boots back on, picked up their weapons, and Marcus took the extra objects that were either Karin's or Laen's. Manny checked his throwing knives for the gemstones, and though one showed signs of being tampered with, they were all still there. After putting their saddlebags on and Marcus put the orihalca back under his saddle, Manny took the burning torch out of the bracket on the wall and walked away from the guardroom.

It was a fairly simple dungeon, and after two more turns they were called out to by a pair of voices from a cell to their right. Karin and Laen were inside; Karin was lying huddled up on a straw mattress while Laen was sitting with her legs crossed. The seventh key Marcus tried opened the door, and Manny quickly returned Karin's belongings to her, while Laen took Marcus off to one side.

"Did you find a necklace?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Other than mine? Uh, yeah, hang on a minute…" Marcus muttered as he reached behind him into his saddlebags. He withdrew it, and Laen took it from him and put it back around her neck.

"Thank you." She replied. "It's a symbol of life, and according to elvish lore it should protect me… but it's just that is has sentimental value."

"No problem." Marcus said. He took the three small knives out of his saddlebags as well, and strode over to Karin, who was putting her boots back on.

"Hey," he said, "Which one of these is yours?"

Karin looked at them and picked one out, and Manny did the same. They were writing knives; Yoshies used them to carve into fabrics or various other parchment substitutes. Laen took the torch from Manny's hand and looked outside the cell, before motioning for them to follow, which Marcus did obligingly, holding his flail ready.

Karin hugged Manny tightly for a moment and uttered her thanks for her rescue, before running out of the cell. Manny also followed, closing the cell door on his way out and the four of them found themselves at the top of a set of stairs, outside a large iron door. Marcus pushed down on the handle and found it unlocked, before throwing it open as hard as he could, and the four of them found themselves outside, right next to the biggest building Marcus had ever set eyes on; a giant castle of white bricks… 

**To be continued…**


	12. Chapter Eleven: Liberty Or Death

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 11 = Liberty or Death**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

 After waiting a few moments to allow their eyes to adjust to the bright light, the four escapees began to make their way forward, towards the gate of the castle's perimeter wall. As they rounded a circular tower, they caught sight of the portcullis, which was closed tightly and firmly guarded.

"Damn it." Manny cursed, clenching his left hand into a fist. "How are we going to get out?"

"Maybe if we got up on these battlements…" Laen began, waving to the wall next to them, "We could get over the walls somehow."

"That's an idea, but how do we get inside?" Karin said.

There was a pause while they thought hard, when Manny said, "Surely there's a back entrance here. Like a storeroom door or something. Stables, maybe."

"Could be…" Marcus mused, "I suppose there's only one way to find out." And with that, they ran off in the direction they came, looking along the walls for a door or some way to get in.

Past two more towers, they found what they were looking for; a ground-level window leading into what looked like a kitchen, which Marcus attempted to push open. It was locked and fastened shut, so Marcus smashed the single pane of glass with his flail, sending glass shards into the room. He quickly scrambled inside, careful not to cut himself on the fragments of glass around the edges of the frame, and jumped down onto a granite floor.

The kitchen was only occupied by a single human servant, who immediately ran into the next room and slammed the door shut as he took off. Karin jumped in behind Marcus, followed closely by Laen and Manny. Manny, however, accidentally cut open his left arm on a shard of glass in the frame and cursed as he landed, and began licking the wound with the ball of his tongue.

"Manny, are you okay?" Karin asked, taking his arm and looking at the injury.

He replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, it just stings a little…"

"You've got a bit of glass in that cut… I don't know if I can get it out…" Karin said, as she began to look around the room. She grabbed a pair of scissors off a nearby table, and carefully used the very end of the scissor points to grab hold of the glass fragment and extricate it from the wound, making Manny wince in pain. Manny thanked her as she put the scissors back down, and declined further help.

As they began to leave, Manny took a roll of bread off one of the counters and ate it. Marcus was about to chide him when he realised that he too was extremely hungry, and after looking around for a moment he spotted a whole melon on one of the far tables. He stepped forward a few feet until he was in range, then plucked it off the plate it was on with his tongue, and ate it whole, savouring the taste. Karin had already found a plate of grilled meat of some kind, and gratefully wolfed it down, before tagging along again as the group left the kitchens.

They found themselves in a small corridor, with two guards down the hall with their backs turned to them. Quietly taking a flight of stairs on their left, the group scaled the stairway as far as it led, up three floors to the top of the castle, before opening a steel door and getting onto the battlements.

They were greeted by two armoured human guards, and Marcus and Manny ran forward to attack, leaving Karin and Laen behind for their own safety. Before Marcus could even attack, the guard he was engaging was brought down as an arrow pierced his neck and his the chainmail covering the back of his neck. Manny was deftly knocking aside the blows dealt to him by the guard, and Marcus quickly ran up and hit the guard's sword arm with his flail, making him cry out from the injury. Manny took his chance and made an upthrust, sending his sword point in just underneath the breast plate and up into the guard's stomach, and pulled his sword out again as the guard fell to the floor.

They ran along the battlements, looking for somewhere close enough to the walls for them to escape. As they reached one corner of the square design castle, they passed a large set of double doors, and Laen cried out for the others to stop.

The Yoshies turned around to look at her and gasped in awe; she had taken out her necklace and the rune on it was glowing brightly, casting a light blue light over Laen's face and upper body. She gave a nervous look up to the Yoshies, and muttered, "This isn't good…"

"What? Why, what's happening?" Karin asked.

Laen explained, "This is a symbol of life, and it's reacting adversely to some powerful dark magic… some great force is in this chamber," she said, pointing to the double doors, "and it's very, very dangerous."

"What sort of force?" Manny inquired.

"Some dark magic is at work." Laen replied. "Either a powerful wizard is inside this chamber, or some magic spell cast by a wizard is at work inside here."

Manny went up to the door and began to push at it. Laen hissed a command at him to get away, but he ignored her and pushed the door open a crack so that he could look inside the room. After standing at the door for a moment, he slowly stepped back, and whispered to them, "That's the Baron's chamber… I can see a red Yoshi sitting on what looks like a small throne, and he's surrounded by human guards…"

Manny suddenly became very quiet, and his eyes were looking over Marcus's shoulder. Karin noticed this and looked in the direction of Manny's gaze, and jumped backwards with a yelp of surprise, startling Marcus. The brown Yoshi looked over his shoulder to find at least five armoured soldiers almost on top of him, and he scrambled away as fast as he could.

But it was worthless; coming at them from the other direction was en equally large group of soldiers, and in the lead was the jailer that had been stealing their possessions earlier. He cackled as he came close to them, and barked, "Right! Put your weapons away, now, or we'll kill you! You're outnumbered, outarmoured, and basically in very, very deep trouble."

Marcus grudgingly put his flail back in the three leather rings on his saddlebags, and Manny sheathed his sword, watching Laen laboriously strap her bow to her back. Marcus felt a sword at his back, and a gruff voice behind him commanded, "Hands up", which Marcus reluctantly obeyed.

The jailer motioned to his soldiers and said, "Right, you six, stay here in case they make a run for it. You five," he said, turning around to address those behind him, "come with me and we'll take these lowlifes to the baron…"

"You're pretty full of yourself for a lowly jailer." One of the soldiers said as they surrounded the unarmed party. The jailer responded with an expletive-laced command, before pushing open the double doors and leading the prisoners into the chamber.

It was a very large and ornate throne room of sorts; even for a baron it was fairly luxurious. Many large marble columns stretched up to the ceiling, and polished tiles reflected the images of the soldiers, Laen, and the Yoshies as they were brought forward. On an elevated platform, sitting on a large throne, was a red Yoshi draped in a blue silk cape, with his head resting in his left hand, and as they got closer the rune on Laen's necklace began to shine brighter. They came to a halt just inside, illuminated not only by the midmorning daylight streaming in through the windows, but by several torches burning away on all sides.

The red Yoshi, evidently the baron of the city, slowly rose from his seat, grabbed a pear from a nearby fruit bowl, and ate it whole as he stepped down to speak to the jailer. The human saluted him before breaking into an explanation.

"My lord, these criminals were found outside the city. We brought them to the jail but they managed to escape. However, they didn't get far, and we've got them here now. There are no others."

The baron chuckled to himself. "Excellent work. This will make interesting news to report back to… hello there, who's that?" he said, pointing to Marcus. "Bring that one forward to me." He commanded, and the soldiers in front opened up to allow Marcus to be pushed forward in front of the baron.

After studying Marcus for a moment, the baron reached beneath his robe and draw a large, two-handed sword with great flourish. Marcus was gripped with fear; he wanted to grab his flail, but the other soldiers would either kill him or attack his defenceless friends. The baron gave a laugh as he put the point into the floor and leaned on his sword.

"Ah, yes, my superior mentioned such a Yoshi… you have done very well, my men, to capture this young troublemaker. Foryo will be most pleased."

"What?" Marcus burst out, "You know him?"

The baron stuck Marcus across the face with the back of his hand, saying, "Treat your superiors with a little respect, whelp." The soldiers behind Marcus laughed for a moment, but Marcus stepped forward again.

"Fine then, my lord, who is Foryo and how do you know him?"

"I work for him now… the best decision I ever made. Granted, I needed a little persuasion, but still it's been worked out. I heard he was looking for you… Marcus."

"How do you know my name?"

The baron opened his mouth and used his tongue like a whip, striking Marcus across the side of his head with a solid blow and knocking him to the floor. He got to his feet again, and spat at the baron's feet in a sign of disrespect.

Nonchalantly, the baron looked down, before taking his sword in his hands and making a broad swing at Marcus. The sword was a good six feet long, and the guards stepped back and left the pair of blue Yoshies along with Laen right in front. Marcus barely managed to duck the high slice, and while the baron recovered from the swing he prepared to draw his flail.

But suddenly, he heard several shouts of pain, and spared a glance over his shoulder to see three of the five soldiers on the floor, the other two just clutching their stomachs, and the jailer running away to a far side of the room. As the fifth soldier fell to the ground, a figure stood behind it with a pair of bloodied swords.

The pure white Yoshi effortlessly ran forward after the jailer and killed him with a single sword stroke. Both Marcus and the baron looked, awestruck, as the Yoshi skidded to a stop and made a sudden turn, before running back towards the red Yoshi.

"Xenly!" Marcus cried out, leaping backwards as she jumped into the air and struck the baron's massive sword with both her blades. He retaliated with a vertical swipe, cracking one of the floor tiles as Xenly nimbly sidestepped the attack. As repeated clangs of steel sounded from behind him, Marcus ran back to his friends who had drawn their weapons, with the exception of Karin.

After turning around and watching the fight for a few moments, Manny suggested, "Shouldn't we help them?". Xenly made two rapid attacks, both of which the baron parried, and she jumped up and over a low slash. Laen looked at her necklace for a moment, which was shining a bright blue, and said, "I think I've worked it out…"

"What was that?" Manny said, not taking his eyes away as Xenly's arm was nearly cut off by a counterattack.

"The baron's possessed… he's not a magic user, and there aren't any in this room. You can tell from his actions that he's being controlled."

"Well," Karin asked as Xenly moved both her swords to her left hand and reached into her saddlebags, "How do we… uh… un-possess him?"

"To exorcise him, we'll need a magic spell… I can't quite remember the incantation…"

Karin grabbed a sword from a fallen guard and aimed the point at the baron. "It doesn't matter… just tell me what you think it is!"

"I… I can't remember…" Laen muttered, closing her eyes in thought. Xenly withdrew three ninja stars from her saddlebag and threw them all at once, but one missed the baron and the other two struck his blade. "You two try and defeat him while I attempt to remember. Don't kill him, just subdue him…"

"Easier said than done!" Marcus cried as he and Manny ran to the aid of Xenly. Manny moved around to the front to help Xenly directly, while Marcus ran around behind the baron and swung at his back. The spiked steel balls on his flail struck solid armour concealed under the robe, and the baron let go of his sword for a moment to take a swing at Marcus with his fist. The brown Yoshi dodged, and the baron resumed fighting his two opponents, but Marcus went up behind him again and swung at the back of the baron's head.

He ducked, and Marcus's swing went clear, but while he was recovering from the swing the baron finally made a successful swipe and slashed a huge gash in Marcus's chest. He cried out in pain as he was knocked back a little, and he fell to the floor, his vision blurring as the sounds of battle reached him.

He heard the pit-pat of Yoshi boots, and a blurry Karin stepped into his field of vision. She healed the wound on Marcus's chest, and while he was catching his breath she turned around and cast the shield spell on Manny and Xenly.

Almost instantly, they had the upper hand, and the baron was beaten back towards his throne as his attacks proved ineffective, striking sparks on the shimmering half-shields. Marcus got to his feet but had to hold onto Karin to stay upright, and they watched the battle unfold from their vantage point. Sweat was almost pouring off of Xenly and was clearly visible on Manny, but the baron didn't seem to be showing signs of tiredness. Xenly's shield was jumping all over the place as she swung with her left sword, and crackling sounds could be heard as the two shields kept being brought close to each other.

Then, Laen's voice called out to Karin, loudly and clearly. "I've got it! Lefenna Exorcisina!"

"Lefenna Exorcisina!" Karin repeated, and an electric blue bolt shot out of the end of her sword and struck the baron in the back. There was a shrill, otherworldly shriek, and what looked like some sort of shade rose up from the baron, who was paralysed in midair. The shade began to dissipate, before breaking away and disintegrating into nothingness. The baron resumed his fall and slammed into the floor, skidding on the polished tiles before coming to rest.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked up; as soon as he saw Manny and Xenly with their swords drawn he scrabbled back against a column and cried, "Don't kill me! I don't know what I've been doing; that damned wizard from Sansata cast some sort of spell on me and I can't remember what happened next!"

"It's alright now, we've exorcised you, and you're fine." Xenly said, sheathing her swords and helping the baron to his feet. Manny also sheathed his sword, taking a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow.

The baron's eyes darted around the room as he saw the slain humans, and he mumbled, "What in all the names of the gods are humans doing in my castle?"

"You… uh… employed them, it seems." Marcus explained, coming up from behind. "They caught us and imprisoned us simply for being Yoshies, and they're all over the city as guards."

"Ridiculous!" the baron cried, "I'll have them all killed! My elite guards must still be out there somewhere, I'll go find them and purge Lince of all those damned humans…"

"No need." Xenly said, "There's already a rebellion going on. Or at least there was when I arrived here about an hour ago."

The baron smiled, and picked his sword up off the floor and sheathed it. "Well then, I'll go sort that out… you can wait in the guest rooms until I've come back, they're just over there. They'll make a good change from the dungeons, I can tell you that. I'll pick it up from here, and you have my eternal thanks."

Xenly nodded. "Thanks accepted. We shall see you later, your lordship."

They parted ways, and after disposing of the lone guard in the guest rooms the five of them collapsed on the beds. The rooms were very comfortable, with pictures on the walls and six beds to a room, and all kinds of extravagant furnishings and comforts. He was reluctant to fall asleep again, but as he lay on the soft bed he began to feel drowsy, and he managed to remove his saddle and boots before getting under the covers and falling asleep. The final thing he noticed before he slipped into dreams was that Manny and Karin were sitting next to each other on a sofa, snoring away in each other's arms.

I miss Alziana's companionship… Marcus thought, before becoming oblivious to the world around him.

**To be continued…**


	13. Chapter Twelve: The Aftermath

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 12 = The Aftermath**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

 "What's up with Marcus?"

"I dunno, Karin, you're the medic."

"Yeah, but… I thought you might know, what with being his friend and all."

"No… I've never seen this happen before. Should we wake him up?"

"I'm not sure… do you really think it'd be a good idea?"

"He's… probably just having a bad dream. Let's leave him for now…"

Karin and Manny were standing at the end of Marcus's bed, early in the evening. Xenly was on her front on her bed snoozing away contentedly, and Laen was still sleeping on her side in all her elven gear. The room was silent save for the sound of blankets shuffling as Marcus tossed and turned in his sleep, and the occasional whimpers and moans he gave, huddling into a foetal position as he did so.

Karin tapped Manny lightly on the shoulder with her left hand, and he turned to his right to face her. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked him deeply in the eyes, but he cocked his head in Marcus's direction and whispered, "Let's go outside… I wouldn't want to wake him up."

She nodded, and the two of them left the room and stepped onto the battlements of the castle, where a light breeze was blowing. It was a serene evening; the sky was tinted a myriad of reds and purples as the sun set off in the distance, and the city of Lince spread out in front of them, its denizens tiny moving dots among the sea of buildings. Lights from the windows of buildings dotted the city like tiny fireflies, but nothing could be heard up on the edges of the castle where the pair of blue Yoshies were standing with their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Manny…" Karin began, "I want to talk to you…"

"You are." Manny replied facetiously.

"No, no… I mean; I want to have a serious talk with you… I want to know where this is going…"

"What do you mean, Karin?" Manny said, letting go and turning his body to face her.

"Well, you see… we were always good friends… we weren't always together in the sense that Marcus and Alziana were, that was sort of on-and-off… but we were always friends, though maybe not always lovers… but now, everything is different."

"I know…" Manny replied, dipping his head. "You, me, Marcus… there's nobody else from the village left…"

Karin took Manny's hands and said, "You're all I have, Manny… I just want to know what's going on now…"

Manny pulled away and leaned on the stone battlement next to him, looking down at the city, his back turned to Karin. "I… I'm not sure, to be honest." He admitted. "I always used to think so lightly of stuff like this… I never gave a second thought to anything when I got into a relationship, but I realise I can't do that any more… this whole thing has changed me now, and I realise some things I never did before…"

Silently, Karin stepped up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Manny gave a little smile, and continued, "I'm seventeen Chyrusian years old… I'm old enough to get married, to do all sorts of things I never could when I was younger… but I don't have that opportunity any more, you know? I always knew I'd leave Shoreside some day… but I never thought it would be so soon, and under such dire circumstances…"

He turned back to Karin, and she nodded in agreement. "I'm almost as old as Marcus… unlike you, I don't have any of my friends left, so all I have is you… I'm learning so much now, but I miss my comfortable life in the village, and it's only now that they're gone that I realise how much everyone I knew meant to me…"

"I'm here for you." Manny said, turning back to her and taking her hands again. "I'll always be here for you… it's not much, but it's all I can do…"

Karin gave a coy smile, dipping her head and looking off to one side, saying, "I appreciate it… I just wanted to know how you felt… but, you know, I'm happy that you're here and that you want to help me… it means a lot to me, it really does."

They paused for a minute, before Manny looked over Karin's shoulder in the direction of the castle's guest rooms. "Well… do you think should we be heading back?"

"Perhaps we should…" Karin agreed, "But while we have the moment to ourselves, why don't we take advantage of it?"

Manny smiled broadly, and after checking again to make sure nobody was watching, he took Karin in his arms and pulled her close to him for a tight hug. For a few moments, illuminated by the late evening light and with the light breezy wind blowing around them, the pair of blue Yoshies were wrapped in each other's arms, rocking back and forth slightly. They then pulled away from each other and gazed deeply into one other's eyes, before they closed them and kissed as evening became night. Long after dark, they were still out there, talking, hugging, and kissing, before they finally went back inside out of the wind and the cold.

"Marcus… you must listen to me…"

Imprisoned in his dreams, Marcus was stumbling around in pitch-blackness, trying to get away from the voice of the demonic thing that had been in his dreams the previous day.

"Get away from me… you're not Alziana, just a memory, a vision…"

"But Marcus… there's something I must tell you…"

Tears streamed down Marcus's cheeks as he continued to run, unsure how far he had travelled, which direction he was moving in, or if he was even going anywhere at all. His feet were pounding on some kind of hard surface, yet the ground didn't seem to be moving, and the voice didn't seem to be getting any further away.

From out of the darkness in front of him, the zombie-like Alziana lunged forward and tackled Marcus to the ground. He cried out and tried to throw her off of him, or to wake up, but he managed neither and was pinned to the ground by the heavy weight of Alziana. She had her legs on top of his, and her hands pinning down his arms, so Marcus couldn't get away. He tried to squirm out of her grasp, but she was much heavier than she had been in real life, and he was firmly pinned down.

"Get off of me, you creature!" Marcus yelled, struggling vainly to escape.

Blood was dripping from Alziana's many wounds and onto Marcus's chest and face, sending shivers across his body. Alziana opened her mouth, and for a terrible moment Marcus thought she was going to bite him, but she leaned over and whispered to him, "Marcus… if you'd just listen, I'd explain…"

Marcus closed his eyes tightly to block out the scarring sight. "I don't want to listen. I want to leave… I want something to go right for a change…"

"It can… just listen…"

After hesitating for a moment, Marcus took a deep breath and said, "I'm listening."

"Good…" Alziana replied, "But first…"

She leaned forward and Marcus opened his eyes just in time to see her kiss him. Marcus felt a horrible sensation; her lips were cold as ice, and not soft at all, but rough and chapped, laced not with sweetness but with a bitter, nauseating taste. The sickened recoil wrenched him out of the nightmare and back into the real world, and he sat bolt upright in the bed, gasping for breath, blinking repeatedly as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

I'm never going to sleep again, Marcus thought.

He looked around through the darkness; Xenly was lying on her front, plainly exhausted, Laen was fully clothed, mostly wrapped in a duvet, and Karin was lying on her side on the bed next to Marcus, with Manny next to her with his arm around her, both sleeping peacefully, their Yoshi gear still on, broad smile on their faces. Marcus scowled to himself, turned over, and closed his eyes but refused to fall asleep again.

When morning finally arrived, Marcus gently shook Manny to wake him up. As Manny opened his eyes, he quickly looked at Karin, at Marcus, then back at Karin and finally back to Marcus, before sitting upright.

Manny put a hand on Karin's shoulder, looked away, then back at Marcus. "Uh… Marcus… we… didn't… uh… well, you know, we just kissed…"

"I don't care, Manny, it doesn't matter to me. It's just morning now and I didn't get much sleep last night…"

"Oh, sorry to hear that. Bad dreams?"

Marcus nodded solemnly, then looked away. "Yeah… I… I'll get over it, I just need time… time to think…"

Manny nodded. "Okay. Well, let's wake up the others, then we can go get something to eat."

The baron saved them the trouble by bursting in at that moment, flinging the doors open with considerable force, and striding to the centre of the room, flanked by his elite Yoshi guards. They meant business; they had extremely heavy armour, and carried large, broad-bladed spears, all carrying a mark of some sort, probably displaying their position as elite troops. They stared straight ahead, not taking any notice of the guests.

"Wake up, wake up, I've got some great news for you all!"

Xenly snapped awake at the sudden noise, and in one fluid movement she jumped to her feet, unsheathed her swords and was holding them ready, before she realised what was happening. There was an uneasy pause, before she coughed and put them back. Laen was a little more groggy, and rolled over onto her back, before sitting up and rubbing her eyes, then abruptly stood up and tried to look respectable. Karin yawned loudly as she woke, before doing the same shifty-eyed routine that Manny had pulled, promptly getting out of the bed and standing next to her blue counterpart.

"We've successfully liberated the city!" The baron cried. "All those filthy humans have been either killed, in the case of the ringleaders, or just simply expelled from the city. I can't believe I was possessed…"

One of the soldiers shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, my lord. Nobody could tell."

The baron nodded, and then cast a glace over to Laen. "Elves are different from humans… they have culture and ethics, morals and values… you are welcome here, elf, for as long as you need."

Laen gave a little bow, before the baron began to start out the door. He stopped suddenly, and turned on his heels to address the group again. "In celebration, it appears there's a little unofficial fighting tournament being held… I hear the first prize is five thousand coins; it's got to be worth a shot. I won't keep you here any longer, so you can leave any time you like, but first, I'd just like to give you these…"

He reached under his robes, and withdrew five small, silver medals, with ribbons tied to them. In a small ceremony, he presented them to each of the five members of the group, before nodding at them and leaving. The Yoshies saddlebagged theirs, and Laen put hers in one of her shirt pockets, after reading the inscription aloud, "For outstanding bravery in the face of extreme danger".

"Sounds about right," Manny said, "Even though Marcus didn't necessarily deserve one…"

"Hey!" Marcus snapped. "I -tried- to help, you know, and I was the one that got us out of that prison in the first place…"

"Alright, alright, calm down… let's just go and check that thing out, after we've eaten, of course. How hard can it possibly be?"

"Tournament today:" Marcus read, " 'Defeat five straight competitors by death, disarmament or otherwise and win five thousand coins. Outside intervention will result in disqualification. Medical assistance not provided. Entrance fee of twenty coins. Winners today:' … and it's blank. Nobody's won yet."

Manny put his hands out in front of him and stretched, saying, "Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we? Come on; one gold coin, and Karin will be here if something goes wrong, right?"

Karin nodded. "I can't fight, and I'll only intervene if you get defeated… go on, it's worth it for five thousand coins, right?"

"Right!" Manny said, taking a gold coin from his saddlebags and joining the small queue for entry. The queue to watch was stretching off around the corner, but friends of entrants appeared to be able to get in through a side entrance into the stands.

They were at a major intersection, a town square of some sort, in which a small arena had been quickly set up. It was little more than a raised platform of wooden planks, but it seemed to be good enough to serve its purpose. On it at the moment, Marcus noticed as he paid the entrance fee, filled out a form, and sat down next to Manny, was a female red Yoshi with a pair of nunchucks fighting a male yellow Yoshi with two small knives.

The red Yoshi appeared to have the upper hand, and a few minutes later she knocked one of the knives out of the yellow Yoshi's hand. As he turned to watch it, he was struck across the face with one of the nunchuck weights and knocked unconscious, evidently with some major head injury. His friends picked him up from the edge of the platform and ran off along a clear path that appeared to be being kept open for that reason. The red Yoshi blew kisses to the crowd as a few of them threw coins onto the platform.

An announcer off to one side shouted, "Renna wins her third match! Who's next to try and take the title?"

Xenly joined Marcus and Manny as they watched a green Yoshi step up onto the platform. Renna bowed to the green female, who was wearing a set of gloves with very long spikes on the end, like claws. The announcer, a purple Yoshi with a noticeable set of battle scars, was holding a tube of some sort that appeared to be amplifying his voice when he spoke into it. It was probably some sort of object enchanted by magic, and Marcus put it out of his mind as the announcer shouted, "Okay, next match: Renna verses…" He looked down at list of names, and called out, "Ellea, a second-level exiled assassin from Dhalsa!"

Xenly gasped, and as Marcus and Manny turned to look at her, she said, "She's just like me! I used to be a seventh-level assassin in Dhalsa until I was caught and exiled… this should be a very interesting fight."

"Doesn't it… you know, telling people you're an assassin…" Marcus reasoned, "…rather defeat the purpose of being an assassin in the first place?"

Xenly shook her head. "When we get exiled, we lose our status and all ties to the guild… they destroy the records of us, so sometimes being exiled is a worse punishment than the death sentence."

The fight had already started, and the two Yoshies were cautiously eyeing each other up as they circled on the platform. Karin and Laen showed up behind them, on the other side of a railing separating the contestants from the crowd, and Karin put an arm around Manny as Xenly continued, "I'm tough… I survived after I got exiled, but I'm still homeless… not all of us do. Some don't make it… especially the ones from Dhalsa, seeing as that entire place is in the middle of a frozen, barren wasteland."

"Nasty." Manny said, keeping his eyes on the fight. Ellea made a swipe for Renna, who blocked it with the chain on her nunchucks. She certainly seemed skilled with it, and when Ellea made another swipe she stepped off to one side, and Ellea missed completely. While she still had her arm extended, Renna quickly grabbed Ellea around the wrist with her nunchucks, the chain biting into the leather gloves, and one spectacular movement she threw her opponent off the platform and up against one of the railings, knocking her out. She didn't seem too badly wounded, and a pair of Yoshies leapt over the barrier to carry her off, as the audience threw coins onto the platform for the victor to collect.

Renna started picking up all the coins as the announcer cried, "Renna wins her fourth battle! Could she be the first to win the top prize? Our next competitor is…" he began to shuffle with the lists on a small table in front of him, temporarily putting down the voice amplifier.

"There are ten levels in the assassin's guild," Xenly began again, "If you survive the training you're a level one. You make your own way up afterwards, by learning the teachings of one of the assassins above you. There's only one level ten assassin at any given time, and he or she is in command of the entire guild for a given city. I was there all my life; my parents got me in, and it took me most of my life to reach level seven, even though I was very young…"

The announcer finally picked his voice amplifier up, and called out, "Our next contender is… Manny, a decorated fighter from the Shoreside Village!"

"Decorated?" Marcus said questioningly.

"Those medals, remember?" Manny replied, standing up, and getting up onto the platform and standing opposite his opponent.

Good luck, my friend… Marcus thought, you'll probably need it up there.

**To be continued…**


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Fierce Battles

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 13 = Fierce Battles**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

 Manny and Renna took opposite corners of the platforms, and she bowed to him as she held her nunchucks ready. "Nothing personal," she said, "But you really don't have a chance. Give it up now."

"Never." Manny replied, "I'm here to fight, and I'm here to win."

"Big words for someone so young." She spat, as Manny drew his sword and held it ready. She looked at it, and laughed.

"A shortsword?" she said, "You honestly expect to win with that little thing?"

"You won't be laughing when it's covered in your blood." Manny retorted, tensing his legs and concentrating on his opponent.

The announcer's voice was much louder on the platform. "Renna verses Manny for the fifth round victory… begin!" He struck a small bell next to him, and both competitors leapt forward at the same time.

Manny's sword struck the metal chains and bounced off, and Renna quickly made an attack that Manny ducked. She switched hands and swung again, but Manny deftly caught it on his sword and rolled off to one side, before making a short, sharp thrust towards her. She jumped back out of the way, before leaping forward again and trying to wrap her nunchucks around Manny's sword in the same way she had attacked Ellea. Manny, however, quickly pointed his sword downwards as he sidestepped to his right, and Renna stepped back again as Manny made another swipe that she caught on the chains.

Damn, she's good, Manny thought, I hope they're not all this hard…

Manny quickly feinted an attack and dodged an unbalanced counterattack, before making a series of quick but not very powerful swipes at his opponent. She held her nunchucks out in front of her protectively, deflecting Manny's blade with the chain, and he saw his chance. Stepping back a bit, he thrust forward with the point of his sword and jammed the point in one of the chains, walking forward to force Renna back. She tried to pull Manny's sword out of his hands, but he had a firm grip on the handle, and he quickly bent down onto one knee before jumping up into the air, holding his sword up. Renna's nunchucks were pulled right out of her grasp, stripping skin from her hands, and she watched in dismay as they flew up into the air and landed outside the platform.

She dropped to all fours, dipping her head, an old gesture begging for forgiveness, and Manny saw tears form in the corners of her eyes. "Don't kill me…" she pleaded, "I don't want to die yet…"

Manny paused for a moment, before nodding and pulling her to her feet. The crowd cheered, and a few coins were thrown onto the platform for him as Renna went to collect her nunchucks.

"Amazing!" the announcer cried, "Manny has disarmed Renna and let her live… we have an honourable fighter here, folks. Okay, who's next…?"

"Well done, Manny!" Marcus called out, "Keep it up!"

"Congratulations!" Karin added, and Manny nodded at the two of them.

"Okay, next up… we've got Manny verses Ricard, a swordsyoshi from the mountains in the southwest. Take your positions, please…"

Manny saw a burly green Yoshi step up onto the platform at the other end. He appeared to be evenly matched; Ricard had a broadsword but no armour, and looked to be about Manny's size, but perhaps a little bigger. Ricard held his sword ready, and gave a little bow to Manny, who returned it uneasily, keeping his eyes on his new opponent.

Manny heard the bell ring, but his opponent didn't move a muscle, and Manny began to step towards him with his sword held up as a guard. Manny covered half the platform before Ricard leapt forward and made a side slash which Manny parried, knocking Manny back a step from the force of the blow. Manny then ducked and tried an upward slash at his opponent, but Ricard deflected the attack with his own blade before making a counterattack, narrowly missing Manny as he rolled out of the way.

The crowd cheered the two contenders on as steel struck steel on the platform, and the battle grew more tense as Manny furiously fought just to stay alive. Ricard was very adept and nimble, but Manny had an idea as Ricard jumped back and pulled a gauntlet out of his saddlebags, putting it on with lighting speed, before putting his firmer grip on his sword handle. The entire manoeuvre took barely a second, and Ricard was already leaping forward again, striking a firm blow against Manny's sword.

Manny hopped back, then used the momentum to perform a backflip to take him even further away from his opponent. He was standing on the edge of the platform, and as Ricard cautiously took a step forward, Manny reached into his saddlebags, making Ricard stop in his tracks.

"What's this?" The announcer's voice boomed, "It appears that Manny has a final card to play…"

Ricard ran forward, and Manny feinted to make him step back, before whipping one of his throwing knives out of his saddlebag. The gem on the handle sparkled in the light for a fraction of a second before the blade was flying through the air, and before the green Yoshi could react the crowd groaned when the knife blade embedded itself in Ricard's chest with the sound of steel scraping on bone. His broadsword slipped out of his hand as he sagged to his knees, clutching at the knife firmly stuck in his ribs. He gasped for breath as he pulled it out with an equally sickening sound, before letting it fall to the floor as two Yoshies ran onto the platform to pick him up and carry him off. After one of them grabbed the broadsword they ran off the platform and through the gap in the crowd, carrying the fallen fighter.

There were several cheers, and Manny heard his name being called a few times as he retrieved his knife and the coins that were thrown onto the stage for him. After wiping the knife clean on the sole of his right shoe, he put it back in his saddlebag and waved to the crowd.

"Show-off." Marcus said, only barely audible to the victorious Manny.

The announcer picked up his voice amplifier and called out, "Manny wins his second round! He's a lot more skilled than he looks, people… I pity the next contestant who has to face him. Now then, who is that contestant…?"

Manny walked to the edge a corner of the platform, and slumped to the floor to catch his breath. A few moments later, the announcer cried out, "Okay, for the third round, we have Manny verses… Xenly, a seventh-level assassin from Dhalsa! We seem to have had a few of those today…"

"Xenly?" Manny said to himself as he realised fully what had just been said. "Oh, by all the Yoshi gods… she'll kill me! I don't have a chance!"

Manny was filled with dread as he saw her step up on the opposite corner, and draw her swords from the scabbards strapped to her back with finesse. He looked over his shoulder, and Karin gave him a thumbs-up, shouting, "Come on, Manny! You can beat her!"

Xenly gave him a despairing look and sighed as she held her swords level. "I'll try not to kill you, but no guarantees. After all, the ways of the assassin can perhaps take over sometimes…"

"I'd like to see you try." Manny said, disguising his fear.

The bell rang, and he brought up his sword to deflect a lightning-fast leap by Xenly, before bringing his sword down to block her second blade. He leapt up into the air over a horizontal slash, then fluttered further before holding his sword underneath him and dropping to the ground. Xenly easily stepped to one side, and Manny's sword hit the platform with a loud thunk, cutting a huge sliver out of the wooden platform. Manny quickly pulled his sword up to deflect Xenly's blows, stepping back as he furiously parried her twin strikes.

Suddenly, she leapt back, and with blurring speed she reached behind her, and Manny raised his sword in front of him simply from a reflex. He never even saw anything come towards him, but there was a loud metallic sound and a ninja star struck his sword before falling onto the platform. Manny bent down to grab it, and rolled off to his left as Xenly tried to hurt him while he was bent over. He threw it back but his aim was off, and Xenly easily knocked it with one sword and sent it to the ground.

Manny went on the offensive, swinging his sword in broad arcs against her blades, striking sparks as he did so; he was fighting harder than he ever had in his life, and he was afraid that he would lose more than just the contest. As he made a large swing upwards Xenly caught it on her blades, and the two of them pushed their swords against each other's in an attempt to force the other person to give ground. The cheers of the crowd were deafening as the sound of steel scraping filled the air, and the two contenders narrowed their eyes at each other, with beads of sweat covering their noses and running down their bodies.

Manny suddenly dipped his sword a little before swinging upwards again, and the crowd gasped as Xenly's left sword was knocked out of her hand and off the platform. She paid it no heed as she began to attack with two hands on her other blade, forcing Manny to step back, back, until he suddenly realised he was on the edge of the platform. When Xenly swung again he leapt into the air and over her, swinging downwards in mid-jump, and he heard the crowd groan as he fell on his front and struggled to his feet.

He noticed that the end of his sword was flecked with blood along one side, and he spun on his heels to find Xenly clutching at her right shoulder, an expression of pain clear on her face, her eyes squinted shut. With one decisive swing, Manny knocked her right sword out of her hand, causing her to cry out in pain as her injured shoulder was jolted. She went to her knees and dipped her head, and Manny heard her force out, "I… I admit… defeat."

The crowd went wild, and coins rained down onto the platform from all sides, with quite a few members of the crowd chanting Manny's name. He helped Xenly to her feet before taking her off the platform and over to Karin, handing her his sword so she could heal Xenly's injury.

When Xenly took her hand away, her palm was stained red and a deep cut was visible on her shoulder, bleeding noticeably. Karin healed the wound quickly, but felt Xenly's shoulder a little, frowning as she did so.

"Xenly…" she said solemnly, "I think you've got a major injury here… one of your shoulder bones appears to have been forced out of place a little. It's not a dislocation but it's still serious…"

Xenly replied, "So… what does that mean…?"

"It means that you've got a permanent injury there… you can still use your arm, but it may be a little stiff, and it will probably never be the same…"

There was an uneasy pause, and Manny put his left hand under Xenly's chin and lifted her head to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry…" he apologised as he took his sword back from Karin, "but I guess that's not going to be enough to help…"

"Don't worry about it." Xenly muttered. "I'll manage… I really should've been suspecting a counterattack… I guess I just figured you'd be easy to beat. You're strong… now get back up there and keep fighting, or this will have been for nothing."

Manny nodded, before leaving and scrambling up back onto the platform. He wiped sweat off himself as he did so, and Marcus tapped Karin on the shoulder as he noticed that.

"Uh, Karin… why is Manny sweating?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She replied.

"Well, you know, we're cold-blooded, so I thought…"

"Not quite. We're sort of in between… we don't generate our own body heat normally, but exercise and other strenuous activities heat us up. Not to mention that all that muscle on Manny will be trapping heat."

"He's not THAT strong." Marcus said, rolling his eyes. "It's probably all that fat on his chest…"

Karin was about to retort when the announcer's voice filled the air once more. "Manny has won three rounds so far! He seems to be making a lot of money from all the coins you people are throwing to him… can you say 'crowd favourite'? Anyway, the fourth round is Manny verses…" There was a pause, during which Manny wiped the blood on his sword off onto his shoes, then the announcer cried, "Visali, a Yoshi from the University of Corvan City!"

Manny looked up to give his opponent the once-over. His adversary was a somewhat oddly coloured Yoshi; his head was coloured a vibrant red, but as it went down his body the colour changed, tinting steadily from red to a bright orange at the end of his tail, though his white chest was as it should have been. In his right hand, he carried a long pole that was taller than he was, almost 6 and a half feet by Manny's reckoning, with spearheads on either end. A double-ended spear, Manny thought to himself complacently, this guy won't take long, that's for sure.

Visali tilted the spear at an angle so that the top spearhead was level with his head, before placing his left hand a little bit above the middle. Manny tilted his head, waiting for a comment or quip, but his opponent remained silent for a few moments before the bell rang to signal the start of the match.

Manny leapt forward and made a large swing, but Visali caught it on his spear, producing a hollow sound as he deflected the blade with the wooden pole. He brought the pole upwards, forcing Manny's sword back against him, but the blue Yoshi pulled his weapon away from the spear and made another swing. Visali caught the second attack on one end of the spear, pivoting the other end around and smacking Manny's head with the wooden handle. Manny moved his sword along the spear to push it away from him, but Visali swung the shaft around and hit the other side of Manny's head, producing a short burst of laughter from the crowd.

Rethinking his strategy, Manny stepped backwards rapidly, keeping his distance. Visali put both hands at one end of the massive spear and thrust the other end towards Manny, barely missing him as he sidestepped the attack, trying not to fall off the platform. Manny could see bulging muscles on the Yoshi's arm, no doubt built up by practicing with the weapon he was holding, and he took a few steps forward to make another attack. Visali swung the spear forward, almost clipping Manny on the back of the head, pulling it back into a position to defend himself with. The blue Yoshi flipped open his left saddlebag and pulled out a throwing knife, switching weapon hands as he did so. Visali looked a little worried but held his ground nonetheless, bracing himself for the throw as Manny took aim. He swung his spear at Manny to try and knock the knife out of his hand, but his opponent bent backwards and the swipe went over his head as he got back to his feet.

He faked a throw to drop Visali's guard, and when the red-orange Yoshi moved his spear Manny jumped off to one side and sent the blade flying through the air towards his enemy. The sharp edge tore open a wound on the side of Visali's nose, but did nothing else as it bounced off the platform and hit the cobbles, coming to a halt near Xenly's feet. Gritting his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain, Visali made a high swing forcing Manny to duck, then pivoted through 360 degrees under the force of momentum and swung very low, making Manny jump. He let go with one hand and grabbed some of the folds of flesh on Manny's chest, before flinging him away with his powerful arms and sending him down onto the platform. Manny gasped for a moment and tried to catch his breath while the announcer began to count him out. "Manny has fallen! One…! Two…!"

Manny struggled to his feet as the announcer was about to count three, slowly getting to his knees and standing up from there. His opponent looked at him, somewhat surprised, holding his spear horizontal as the crowd cheered Manny on. Visali pulled at both ends of the spear and it came apart in the middle, separating into two halves a little bit less than three and a half feet each. Two very pointed spearheads popped out from the ends and spread out with a click, covering the end of the shafts as they slid back down. Manny swallowed heavily as his opponent held one in each hand and began to step forward, spinning them in his fingers a little as he did so.

Once he was within range, Visali abruptly stopped rotating the double-ended spears and held the centers in his hands, thrusting both points towards Manny. He swung his sword up to knock them away, but Visali spun them around his fingers and attacked again with the points on the other end of the spear shafts. Manny brought his sword back down but only hit one spearhead, and the other tore into his left arm, opening up a large gash in his flesh. He cried out and jumped away, clutching at his arm; though the wound wasn't deep, it was fairly large and was bleeding profusely.

"You can submit if you want!" his opponent shouted, trying to be heard above the crowd.

"Never!" Manny replied, taking his hand off his injury. A single droplet of blood fell from the tip of Visali's spearhead, and Manny narrowed his eyes as he took up a fighting stance again and prepared to resume the battle. Pulling out another throwing knife, he lunged forward with his sword in his right hand and swung with all his might for Visali. He brought up his two spears in an X shape, holding them against Manny's sword as he tried to push Visali backwards like he had done with Xenly. His opponent smirked as he began to force Manny's sword back, but Manny brought up his free hand and the knife for a split second before thrusting underneath Visali's arms and caught him just above his right leg. He cried out and stepped away, before pulling out the knife with his tongue and casting it off the platform, forcing himself to ignore the pain once more.

Visali split his spear shafts a second time, pressing just above the middle parts with his thumbs and dividing the weapons into four double-ended spears, each one a little bit longer than one and a half feet. He held them like crosses in his hands, and with a determined roar he leapt forward again, swinging his deadly spearheads at Manny, determined not to lose. Desperate, Manny held his sword with both hands and brought it up with as much power as he could put into it, and when Visali held the wooden shafts in the way of the swing to protect himself he was knocked into the air a few inches from the force of the attack, and landed unsteadily a couple of feet back. He stumbled and fell, and Manny took the opportunity to end the fight, leaping forward and stopping his swing with just a few hairs' distance between the very point of his blade and Visali's neck.

"Give up?" Manny said, putting one foot on Visali's right arm as he did so. The red-orange Yoshi paused, then nodded quickly, keeping his eyes on the sharp point of Manny's sword. The blue Yoshi got off him to an almost deafening roar from the crowd, and Visali slowly got to his feet as they both stepped off the platform.

"That's an interesting weapon you've got there." Manny said as he led Visali over to Karin.

"It's of my own design… part of a University project. I was hoping to win the top prize to see if I could get these sold commercially, but I suppose it needs a little work."

"It doesn't need any work…" Manny replied, "It's a fine weapon; you just need to learn to wield it better. You certainly almost had me back there."

Karin hopped over the railing to heal them, and Visali took Manny's hand and gave him a hearty handshake. "Thank you, Manny… I hope you win today."

"Me too." Manny said with a sly grin, before he let go of Visali and watched him head back to a few Yoshies in the crowd who consoled him as they began to leave the stands, and then Manny returned to the platform to pick up the accumulated coins. He wasn't sure how many he'd picked up; a lot of them were bronze coins, worth only a single coin, but there were quite a few silver ones worth ten coins and several gold ones worth twenty coins. He'd count them later.

"Next!" He called out, and the announcer picked up his voice amplifier to talk again. "Manny has only one round left! Will he be the first one to complete the trials and win the top prize? All that stands between him and the money is a final contestant. That contestant is…"

The audience went silent as the announcer picked a random name from the entry sheets in front of him. He plucked one out from the top of a small pile, held it up where he could see it, and picked up his voice amplifier again.

"Marcus, from the Shoreside village!"

"Marcus?" Manny said. "I can't fight him; he's my friend!"

"You have to fight him." The announcer replied. "Why would you stop now anyway?"

Grudgingly, Marcus got up from his seat next to Xenly and took his position on the corner opposite Manny. He removed his flail from its spot on his saddlebags, placed his right hand near the bottom, and put his other hand on top of it.

"Marcus, just because you're my friend doesn't mean I'm going to hold back."

"Manny, I'm not just going to let you win. I'm going to fight like I've never fought before."

"You can kiss my tail for all I care. You're not a fighter anyways, I can always beat you, and I will today."

Marcus was infuriated and leapt forward without waiting for the bell to sound, surprising Manny, who only just managed to block Marcus's attack. Marcus stepped back and swung again, striking a solid blow against Manny's sword, and forcing him to step back a bit, but Manny stepped forward and made a stab for Marcus, who stepped to the side and attacked again. It was extremely difficult for Manny to block Marcus's flail balls as the chains made them quite unpredictable in their path, and Manny knocked another attack away and slashed outwards, but Marcus leaned out of the way of the attack before swinging and almost hitting Manny's nose.

Manny countered by thrusting forward and Marcus twisted to one side to avoid the attack, but Marcus then tried a tactic from Visali; he swung high, making Manny duck, then swung low, making him jump. Manny tried the same counter-tactic again, but Marcus easily swung around and caught Manny's underside as he jumped, making him yelp in pain and land on his front. He scrabbled to his feet and swung back at Marcus, nearly hitting his flail, but the nimble brown Yoshi moved his hand away from the swipe.

Manny swung for Marcus's flail again, and knocked it out of his hand, sending it skittering across the platform, but Marcus kicked upwards and hit the bottom of Manny's sword handle, dislodging it from his grip and knocking it in the general direction of Marcus's flail.

The crowd cheered as the two disarmed Yoshies resorted to fisticuffs; Marcus kicked Manny firmly in the chest, sending him back a few steps and winding him, but he came back and swung for Marcus's head. The brown Yoshi raised an arm to block the attack, grabbed Manny's outstretched arm with his other hand, and flung Manny to the floor, creating an audible sound as he hit the wooden planks, making their fallen weapons bounce a little on the other end of the platform. Manny rolled over once and jumped to his feet, but Marcus had already run for his flail.

"Oh no, you don't!" Manny shouted as he ran over and dived for his sword.

He knocked Marcus's legs out from under him and grabbed his sword, kicking Marcus's flail away after he stood up. He turned to face the brown Yoshi, who snarled, before lunging for Manny, but he stepped out of the way and Marcus went past him, landing on his front on the floor. Marcus got to his feet and retrieved his flail, and faced Manny once more.

Manny saw him doing something with the flail; it appeared that he was trying to make the balls spin around the end of the handle, but he was having trouble doing it. They were going in a half-circle underneath the flail, but no further, and Marcus gave up and ran forward to attack Manny.

He kicked Marcus away, then as he came back again he held his sword up and thrust forward, putting as much force into the decisive attack as he could. He speared Marcus right through the heart, spraying blood out from the exit point of his sword, though his sword handle was almost touching Marcus before Manny fully realised what he was doing. He saw Marcus's eyes close slightly, and his body went limp, and he groaned in unison with the crowd as he was impaled on Manny's blade. Manny quickly pulled his sword out of Marcus as quickly as he could, and his friend's body sagged to the floor at his feet, unmoving.

Manny went relatively pale, and turned around to face the sidelines. "K…Karin!" He cried. "Quick! Come over!"

Karin vaulted over the barrier, nearly clipping Xenly on the participant's bench in front, and jumped as she hit the ground again, fluttering up to the platform, waving her arms furiously. She snatched Manny's sword out of his hands, and pointed it towards Marcus, shouting "Oralia Totalia!" as loudly as she could.

Though the wounds on Marcus, lying on his side, healed up and became whole, he did not stir from where he lay. Manny bent down and put a hand on the side of Marcus's head, and tried to take his pulse, but he couldn't find it, and closed Marcus's eyes with his fingers.

"What have I done…" he whispered, "I can't believe I…I killed Marcus…"

**To be continued…**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Beyond The Grave?

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 14 = Beyond the Grave?**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

It was very late in the day, and darkness had settled over Yoshi's Island. After collecting his prize money, Manny had enlisted the help of Karin and Laen to carry Marcus's body to the cliffs outside the city of Lince, where they would give him a final farewell. The sun had set, and a cold wind blew over the cliff edge as the small group stood on the end of it, about to pass one of them on from the mortal world and continue on without them.

Manny would gladly have traded all the money he had just won to have Marcus back, but the choice wasn't his to make. His friend's body was lying on the very edge of the cliff, his eyes closed, his few belongings attached to him as best as possible, except for the spare change he had been carrying. Manny was on his knees next to him, tears streaming down his face, his eyes closed as well, and Karin was standing right behind him, with her hands on his shoulders. Laen was standing next to Xenly behind them, muttering elvish prayers under her breath, while Xenly simply watched Marcus's corpse as she kept one hand on her injured shoulder.

"M…Marcus… my friend… my one, true friend…" Manny whispered, forcing back tears as much as he could and trying not to sniffle, "I… I'm sorry… there is no way… that I can ever be forgiven for having done this to you… but… if it helps, in any small way… I will still avenge Alziana's death for you."

Karin gently caressed Manny's shoulders, and said, "I never knew you that well… but you were still a friend. I will remember you as long as I live."

Laen merely raised her voice so her current prayer could be heard, then dropped her voice once she was done. Xenly stepped forward so she was next to Manny, and gently touched Marcus's cheek with the back of her hand. "I never knew you much, but you never deserved all the pain and suffering you've endured… I hope you don't have to keep suffering, wherever you are now…"

"Marcus!"

"Just get off of me!"

Marcus was in his nightmares again, though after Manny had impaled him he was sure that he was here for good this time. Despite his best efforts, the zombie-like Alziana had still pinned him down, and he couldn't escape her clutches.

"What do you want with me, you foul creature?"

"I want you to listen…"

"I've BEEN listening! But you keep doing things to me and you keep waking me up… I don't know how long I've been out or whether I'm going to wake up at all… I want to go back, and I don't want to have to keep coming here…"

"I'm testing you, Marcus. You've been failing so far, but maybe this time…"

"Huh? What?"

She didn't give him an answer; instead, she leant forwards again, and Marcus resigned himself to stop resisting. A test? He'd try to stay asleep this time, and see what happened…

When their lips connected, Marcus shuddered and mentally vomited from the sickening taste, but focused on not waking up. He simply lay there, and she raised her head again and looked him in the eyes, somehow still bleeding from her wounds.

"Well done… but this time, put some effort into it."

"Huh? 'This time'? You're doing it again?"

She nodded, and Marcus sighed as she bent forwards again, but she moved her hands off of his arms to allow him to move them around. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't see her injuries, and when she kissed him again he reached up and put his hands on her back uneasily. After a moment, he cautiously returned the kiss, nauseating though it remained. He opened his eyes a tiny fraction, but was almost blinded by a sudden flash of light that seemed to occupy the whole of his vision, even when he firmly shut his eyes again.

As the light receded, the sickening taste became sweet, her lips soft and warm, and Marcus didn't feel the patter of blood on his skin any more. He opened his eyes again as she moved off of him, and saw that her wounds had healed, her eyes had pupils again, and she was the Alziana he had always remembered once more.

She smiled, and Marcus stood up, but quickly reached out with lightning speed and grabbed her by the throat, making her gasp as he tightened his grip. She wasn't as heavy as before, and she struggled in vain to make him release her, as he pulled her down to the ground and pinned her by her neck. In a malicious voice, he said, "Now then… I'd like some answers."

She gasped for breath, and Marcus loosened his hold a little. "Who are you, for a start? You're not really Alziana, are you?"

"No… I'm not… but I'm not a figment of your imagination either."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm a higher power…"

"I don't believe in gods. Besides, what would they have to do with me?"

"Fine then, I'm your spirit guide. Take your pick."

Marcus gave an exasperated sigh, before continuing. "Whatever. It's not important. What are you doing this to me for?"

"I've got something to tell you, and you're finally ready to hear it."

"What's it going to matter? I'm dead already."

"No… no, you're not. I've just suspended your life force so I could do this to you, and you only appear to be dead. After I've told you everything, you can go back and rejoin your friends…"

"Great, but they've probably already buried me or something."

"No, they're about to give you a burial at sea by throwing you off a cliff… you have good friends; they're going through a lot of rituals most people probably wouldn't bother with for an atheist."

Marcus shrugged. "Ah well, if I were really dead I wouldn't care. Anyway, just tell me this big important thing you have to tell me and send me back."

"Okay… just let me go first…"

Grudgingly, Marcus released his grip on the pink Yoshi's throat, and got to his feet, whereupon she stood up slowly, before holding her arms out to her sides and closing her eyes. She began to glow a bright white, and Marcus strained his eyes to try and see what was happening. She was completely encompassed by the light, and when it faded again, a completely different Yoshi was standing before him.

She was a tone of light blue, with vibrant red fins that stood out on the back of her head, and though she wasn't wearing a saddle or any boots, she had two long streamers of what looked like silk coming from behind her shoulders. Even though there was no wind, they flapped freely as though there were, and the pure white colour was completely untarnished, matched by a white glow that surrounded the whole of her body. She was floating a few inches above the ground, with her feet back as though she were walking backwards, and when she opened her eyes again Marcus saw that they were full of kindness and compassion, whilst right above the eyes was a set of long, curved eyelashes.

He blinked a few times, and she spoke to him in a voice much like Laen's, but slightly higher-pitched. "Whether or not you believe in me, I am the goddess Sorsoy… I lived long ago, before the bitter rivalry between the humans and the Yoshies came into existence, before the world as we know it was as populated as it is… back then, there were but a few cities of wooden houses struggling to survive in the world, and there were too many general problems for the races to turn on each other. After I was hatched, I knew I had a destiny to fulfil; I could use magic with nothing more than my hands, and I seemed to know new enchantments nobody had ever heard of before. I eventually had a dream in which another goddess came to me and told me of my future… but no, before you ask, you are not chosen to join us."

"Then what are you here for?"

"I'm getting to that… while I was still alive, I forged myself a rapier and enchanted it with demi-god powers, before helping the inhabitants of the world to prosper… but, now that there were many people, and their troubles were being slowly lessened or eliminated, trouble grew… and then came the great war, between the Koopas, and the other inhabitants of the world… the Koopas could stand to live in the deserts, and had been increasing exponentially in number for a long time. I was a leading commander when the war reached its climax, and I was there to see everything that happened afterwards…"

"I've heard this story." Marcus said. "The humans betrayed the Yoshies and killed most of them, but the only thing that stopped the Koopas killing everyone was a mysterious event like an explosion, or some kind of eruption, that was taken to be divine intervention. The surviving Yoshies have never forgiven the humans for the massacre of most of their people."

Sorsoy shook her head no, and started to talk again. "No, the story has become tainted over time. The humans were caught up by a mind-control spell the head Magikoopa used… they slew their steeds, the Yoshies, and the Koopas hoped a civil war would result. It would have, had I not intervened… though it destroyed my body in the process, and I had to summon up as much magic force as possible, it worked nonetheless, and the Koopa army was decimated, breaking the mind-control spell and ending the war. I was ripped apart, but born again in the realm of the gods… however, the feud was never resolved, and even though an uneasy truce was called, the bitter rivalry has remained to this day."

"I don't believe the magic thing with the explosion… how could one person wipe out an entire army with just one spell?"

Sorsoy glared at Marcus, and her silk streamers went a vibrant red. "Magic is nothing more than manipulation of an ethereal energy that resides on this world. With the right incantations that energy is converted into the effects of a spell. Even though not everyone can use magic, it's fairly simple, and it doesn't exactly take a lot of training or effort. However, my rapier had been enchanted to increase the power of magic spells, and as a demi-god, the intensity was amplified thousandfold. Of course, only being a demi-god, I was utterly vaporised by the force of the spell, but that wouldn't happen to me if I did that today."

Marcus thought about all this for a moment, before asking, "Okay, we've done your autobiography. Why are you here and what do you need to tell me?"

"I'm here to warn you about your future."

"Huh?" Marcus replied, puzzled.

"The future is always clouded and unclear… even the best oracles and the gods themselves can only predict what is most likely to happen. But, the way it stands at the moment, you lose yourself… things happen to you, and you grow angrier and more upset, until you become corrupted by evil and exist only to destroy…"

"But… I don't understand… this has all been distressing so far, but I don't think I'd ever become evil…"

"Believe me, you will; before too long, you will take your first loss… you may gain more friends, but they will not stay long, and your distress causes you to look for something to help…"

"I… I refuse to believe that…"

"Then you are a fool!" Sorsoy shouted, making the strange world inside Marcus's imagination shake. "You refuse to believe the truth when it lies right in front of you, and yet you expect things to play out fine. Ignorance leads to carelessness, carelessness leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to your ultimate doom."

"Prove it."

"What?" Sorsoy said, taken aback, her streamers turning a shade of blue similar to her skin.

"You heard me. Prove it." Marcus repeated.

"Very well, then. You asked for it."

Sorsoy's streamers changed colour again, this time to a dark purple. She floated forwards, and reached out to Marcus. She put her right hand on Marcus's nose, and he closed his eyes, falling into unconsciousness once more…

Darkmark stood straight and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the whites were pure, bottomless black, save for the glowing red pupils that came from the inky darkness. He then brought his open hands behind his shoulders, and brought them down again with a roar, holding them level, with the fingers curved up, as though they were holding something.

A black aura erupted around Darkmark, purple auras of fire burst into existence around each of Darkmark's hands, and what looked like purple electricity flowed from them, up his hands, and across his body. The crackling sound of electricity filled the air as the purple energy continued to spark across Darkmark's body, and he spread a pair of large, leathery wings and began to stride forwards…

Marcus snapped back into consciousness, albeit still in his nightmare, with Sorsoy lifting her hand away from his nose. The expression on her face was one of concern, and her streamers had turned a very pale yellow.

"I… that… was that me?" He gasped.

Sorsoy nodded slowly. "It's not too late to stop this happening. Continue on your journey, but don't let the forces of evil consume your mind… now, I must go, and I bid you good luck in your quest for vengeance.

Before Marcus could speak, there was a bright flash, and he passed out.

Manny put a hand on his friend's chest. "Well… it's time to say goodbye… I just wish that you were still here…"

A tear fell from his nose and landed on Marcus's, and he put one arm underneath Marcus's tail and the other behind his head. He stood up straight, and stood on the cliff edge, facing into the wind.

"One l-life p-passes… a f-fallen friend d-departs…"

Manny wasn't sure of the entire prayer, and faltered. He closed his eyes and strained to remember, determined to do this himself.

"B-but he r-remains with us… f-forever in our h-hearts… t-though we mourn f-for our loss… w-we must b-bid farewell…"

He stumbled again, and choked on his tears, forcing out the words as they came to him.

"T-the rest of us m-may join h-him…"

" 'But only time will tell', right, Manny?"

Manny opened his eyes abruptly and looked down. Marcus's eyes were open, and Manny could clearly see the red outlines around the pupils. He gasped and stepped backwards, and gently let Marcus's feet down so he could stand. Manny then wrapped his arms around Marcus and held him tightly, crying loudly and letting tears stream down his cheeks.

"Marcus!" he wailed. "I thought I'd lost you!"

Marcus gave Manny a pat on the back. "I'm here, I'm here… it'll take more than that to kill me!"

Manny sniffled as he let go, and looked Marcus in the eyes. "I'm so sorry… I got carried away; I just… I almost killed you…"

Marcus half closed his eyes and looked off to one side. "Yeah, well… these things happen. Just don't do it again, alright?"

Karin and Xenly both ran forward to look at him, and Laen stayed behind to watch. A few moments later, they turned around and headed off, for the cliffs just north of Lince, where they could get off Yoshi's Island and cross to the mainland of Chyrus.

But Marcus considered what he'd seen in his vision, or dream, or whatever it had been. Sure, his future self appeared to be horribly scarred with discolorations and such, but he looked powerful… much more powerful than he was now. Marcus rubbed his chin as he walked, and thought hard. Maybe that's not such a bad future… I've lost practically everything already, so if I just let things happen… I can become powerful like that… yes; perhaps there IS something for me to look forward to…

**To be continued…**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: The Crossing

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 15 = The Crossing**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

It was still the middle of the night; darkness covered the lands, clouds blotted out the moonlight, and only the dim, ever-distant lights from the city of Lince reached the group as they made their way along the cliffs, to the northern edge of Yoshi's Island. Even with their eyes fully adjusted to the night, they could only make out vague outlines of each other through the darkness. As they continued forward, rain began to fall, picking up from a light drizzle and soon coming down in torrents, pattering on the Yoshies' skin and thoroughly soaking Laen.

Xenly, at the front, stopped suddenly and put her left arm out behind her to signal for the others to stop. They managed to see the movement in the dark, and came to a halt just behind her, as she turned around and began to speak.

"I came along this way to get to Yoshi's Island… we won't even have to take a boat to get to the mainland."

"But how?" Marcus asked, "How do you get from an island to the mainland without crossing the water?"

Xenly put her left hand back on her injured shoulder. "Well, you see, Yoshi's Island isn't technically an island… the north and south ends of it are connected to the mainland by just two arches of stone… they're being eroded and will one day collapse, but right now you can walk across them to get to and from the mainland. This rain may make it a little dangerous, but we should still be okay."

Laen shivered. "Whatever. Let's just get across so that we can find somewhere to dry out…"

The stone arch was covered on the top with patches of moss, and was only wide enough for one of them, though a single person had enough room on either side to be able to walk straight without having to hold their arms out to balance.

The wind picked up as Xenly stepped onto the land bridge and began to cross, Marcus followed her, then Laen hurried along, closely followed by Manny and a nervous Karin. The arch stretched a good half mile or so, and they were walking into the wind for most of it, though the arch began to curve to their left as they reached the halfway point.

The rain picked up again and there was a bright flash, followed a second later by a rumble of thunder. Karin stopped for a moment, looking around in fear, but uneasily continued a moment later, trying to catch up to Manny. The rain beat down onto them, and they had to hold up their arms to shield their eyes from the torrents of water. There was another flash of lightning, and the rumble of thunder only took half a second to reach them, but after it receded it was replaced by a sometimes whistling, sometimes howling wind that signified the start of a major storm.

Xenly picked up the pace, and Marcus sped up too, determined not to lose sight of his guide, but he didn't want to look behind to check on the others, for he could still hear Laen's footsteps as her boots hit the hard stone. He could make out the edges of a cliff face coming closer to them, and knew they had nearly reached the other side, which he was extremely glad for. A wave splashed at the arch, doing nothing more than drenching his feet, but Marcus was worried that the waves were starting to get higher, and gritted his teeth in determination as he continued. The wind dropped and changed direction, trying to blow him off the arch, but as he looked under his raised arm he saw Xenly's feet step onto the cliff edges, and she lay on her back and gasped for breath. A few moments later, Marcus reached her, and as soon as he was on the cliffs he turned around to see how his friends were doing.

Laen arrived shortly thereafter, thoroughly miserable in her soaked clothes, and sat down with her arms around her knees as they waited for their friends; Karin was lagging behind and Manny was a good distance in front of her, both of them still crossing the arch. There was another flash of lightning, and the rumble came at the same time as the flash.

Marcus looked out to the sea, churning away under the force of the wind, and when another flash of lightning lit the area he saw a potential danger to his friend. He leapt to his feet and cupped his hands to his lips, and cried out into the darkness, "Manny, look out! There's a big wave coming!"

Manny looked over to his right and caught sight of the top of the wave, spotting the white foam in the darkness. He laid down on his front and grabbed hold of the arch on both sides, clinging onto it for his life, but Karin, however, didn't hear what Marcus had said, and he realised with a stab of regret what was about to happen…

Manny turned his head just in time to see it; the wave hit the stone arch and covered Manny in water, and also sent up a spray that hit the three who had already crossed. Karin was knocked off the arch, and she screamed as the wave hit her, but she was nowhere to be seen when it receded.

"Karin!" Manny shouted behind him. "Kaaaaariiiiiiin!"

He got to his feet and ran over to where she had fallen off, and Marcus saw him quickly bend down and grab something, lying flat on the stone arch as he did so. Marcus moved to where he could see the side of the arch, and he noticed that Manny had his arms around the wrist of Karin, who was clinging by her fingertips to the edge of the stone bridge.

Manny looked down as he grabbed her other arm. "Don't let go, Karin… I won't let you fall!"

She looked over her shoulder into the waves below; she could see many rocks underneath her, only partially submerged by the churning waves, and she would be unlikely to survive a fall onto them. She grabbed hold of the stone arch with her other hand, and Manny prepared to pull her up when another wave hit.

Manny was knocked forward a little and the whole top half of his body hung over the edge of the arch. Karin's wrists were still firmly in his grasp, but he noticed he was starting to slip on the moss, with Karin's weight pulling him down. He let her arms slide a little, and clasped her hands to get a firmer hold, and though he tried to wriggle his way back onto the arch, he didn't have much success.

Marcus was about to go and help, but remembered what Sorsoy had said to him; "Before too long you, will take your first loss…"

He shook his head. It was a hallucination. He didn't believe in the gods anyway, and he'd prove them wrong by saving his friends. Against the protests of Xenly, he dropped his saddlebags on the ground to remove excess weight, and set out back along the arch, struggling to get the several yards from the edge of the cliffs out to where Manny and Karin were.

Before he could get to them, he had to get down to hold against another wave. When it hit Manny it knocked him further forward, so that only his legs and tail were on the arch. He began to slip but Marcus quickly grabbed Manny's right leg with his tongue, and began to try to pull him back up onto the arch.

"Manny…" He said, struggling to speak with his tongue extended, "I can't pull you up with Karin'th weight…"

"I'm not letting go!" Manny cried, tightening his grip on her hands. "I won't let this happen. I won't, I refuse!"

Marcus crawled forward so he could grab Manny's legs with his hands, and he pulled on Manny's ankles, but he wasn't strong enough to pull the both of them up. He let go with his tongue and retracted it, unsure of what to do.

Karin looked into Manny's eyes, though she couldn't see the tears in the dark. "Manny…" she said, "I know you don't want to let go, but I don't want to take you with me…"

"I'm not letting go."

"Please, Manny, I want you to stay behind. I don't want you to leave Marcus…"

"But Karin…"

"But what? Why would you so needlessly sacrifice yourself?"

"It's not over yet! I can save you!"

Marcus looked over his shoulder. "Look out! Big wave!" he cried.

"You can't, Manny, and you'll just get yourself killed trying…"

"But Karin…" Manny said, not listening to Marcus, "I… I love you…"

"I… I can't hold the both of you!" Marcus called out again. "I'm slipping!"

Karin dipped her head and was silent for a moment, then looked him in the eyes again. "Let go of what you love, Manny. Just let go…"

"No!" He shouted, almost commanding himself not to release his hold. "I'm not letting go!"

"Then I will, Manny. For your sake, I will…"

She opened her hands and freed herself from Manny's grip. He didn't have time to cry out or look, because the wave hit and he almost fell over the edge, but in the rush of water that forced him to close his eyes, he heard Karin's back hit the rocks below. Marcus stayed on the arch, before standing up and pulling Manny onto it, though he didn't get up, instead looking out into the waves for any sign of Karin.

He bit his lip as a flash of lightning lit the air, and he caught sight of Karin's body floating away on the waves, unmoving, her eyes open. Darkness covered his view once more, and he closed his eyes, holding back his tears.

Marcus was stunned. He, too, had seen Karin on the waves after hitting the rocks, and knew she was most certainly dead. Silently, he pulled Manny to his feet, staying next to him where there was room, before leading him back to where Xenly was. As Manny stepped onto the cliffs, he looked back over his shoulder into the storm, before sadly dipping his head and joining the remnants of his group.

Marcus put a hand on his shoulder, but Manny brushed it away, sitting down in the storm and trying not to cry. Marcus bent his knees to talk to him, and said, "I'm sorry, Manny, but there was nothing we could do… you were slipping, and if she'd held on all of us would've fallen…"

Manny sniffled, and said, "I know… but, I… I can't believe she's gone…"

"She's dead, Manny." Marcus said. "We both saw her… she's dead, and you can't sit here mourning for her…"

**To be continued…**


	17. Chapter Sixteen: The Sorrow Of Loss

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 16 = The sorrow of loss**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original Yoshi is copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Meanwhile, under the storm clouds that blanketed Sansata, high in the castle nearby, the dark wizard Foryo was pacing back and forth in frustration. A day ago his possession of the baron of Lince had been exorcised, foiling his backup plans to eliminate the elves. It didn't matter, though; the remaining troops from his raid on the Shoreside Village had apparently taken care of everything in the black forest, and he'd come back to the baron later.

More urgent, though, was the fact that he still couldn't get the screeching voice out of his head. He had no idea what language he was being shouted at in, and he had persistent headaches from the nightmares. He'd find some way to combat it… all he needed was the right spell, but it was eluding him, and he'd gone through half of his spellbooks already.

He wondered if it was related to the exorcising of his spell. He shook his head as he dismissed the thought, since the nightmares had been occurring for about two weeks. Maybe there was the slight possibility that he hadn't been successful in his raid on the little Yoshi village?

No, he thought, nothing could have survived that…

The reduced group trudged onwards in the rain; after finding some shelter under a large tree, they had slept overnight before resuming their travels in the daylight. It was still raining, though not as heavily as before, and the sounds of the rain beating down on them, and on the surrounding grasslands, were the only audible noises as they made their way eastwards.

Nobody had spoken much since Karin had fallen to her demise. Marcus had no idea what made her let go, but he suspected that she didn't want to pull Manny down with her, which he could understand. She must've known she wouldn't survive the fall, but still, it seemed like such a courageous move to make for her…

Xenly and Laen were in the lead, with Laen considerably worse for wear underneath her soaked clothing, and Xenly was miserably trudging along with one hand on her shoulder. It seemed to be hurting a lot less, and she could still move it around, but she was trying not to use it too much to help it heal.

As they went over the top of a small hill, Marcus slowed down to level with Manny behind him. As he walked adjacent to his friend, Marcus looked at him for a moment, and could tell Manny was keeping things inside him. He put a brown hand on Manny's shoulder, but he didn't respond, so Marcus tried to talk to him.

"Hey, Manny, are you okay?" he asked, but there was no response. "Please, Manny, talk to me, it'll help you feel better."

Manny looked over to the side, but dipped his head again as he walked and stared at his shoes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again and remained silent, shaking his head a little to get rid of some of the rainwater. Marcus gave him a little pat on the back, but Manny brushed Marcus's hand away and strode forward away from him.

"Who's there?"

Someone was knocking on Karin's door…loudly. Whoever it was almost seemed to be trying to break down the door with the force of the blows, but it was still a regular rhythm interspersed with shouts of "Open up!".

Karin sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She had been asleep until a moment ago, and she slipped out of bed and went to the door, looking through a crack in the wooden planks to try and see who was there.

However, it was pitch black, and she could only make out blurry movements in the dark, slightly illuminated in the pale light of Chyrus's smaller moon that managed to get through the cloud layer.

She opened the door a crack, but whoever it was pushed the door open firmly and almost knocked her off her feet. She heard the door slam, and a few sounds as the visitor scrabbled for a match to light one of the lamps with.

"Hey, Manny, is that you?" Karin asked, and she heard a hurried, gasping "Yeah…" as a match was struck and the lamp lit. The light it gave off partially illuminated him, but also blood seeping out from a wound that Manny had one hand clutched over. She gasped as she saw it, and quickly lit a few more lamps so that she could get a better look at him.

His eyes were half-closed and he was breathing heavily as though he had just been running, and he winced as she pulled his hand away from his chest to see the wound he had acquired.

"What happened?" She asked, "This looks like some kind of stab wound…"

"Broken bottle… I got in a little argument, but you should see the other guy."

"Who's the other guy?"

"Oh, Marcus… apparently he doesn't like my advice."

Manny was nine years old, and his friend still hadn't talked to Alziana. Despite his good intentions, Manny didn't seem to be having much success in convincing his friend to get it over and done with, and when he pressed him like he had done today he tended to get emotional.

"Why did he attack you, though?"

"I really ticked him off… he doesn't take to sarcasm too well. He smashed the bottle and got a good one on me, but my sword certainly saw him off…"

Karin paused for a moment with her hand in a bandage box. "Is he hurt?"

"Nah… he'll live."

"No, seriously Manny… did you hurt him?"

"I didn't cut him open… I just knocked him on the back of the head. When he regains consciousness later I'll probably go see him…"

Karin went back to tending the wound, licking some of the bandage to make it adhesive before she put it on Manny's skin. A few moments later she was done, and stood up to look him in the eyes.

"You'll be fine… are you sure Marcus isn't-"

"Yes, I'm sure… would I lie to you?"

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before Manny reached over and extinguished one of the four lamps, dimming the light a little. Karin placed her hands on his shoulders, and Manny took her in his arms and kissed her passionately, an act that she gratefully returned, running her hands across his back.

Manny broke off and looked her in the eyes as she put out a second lamp on her right. She was about to advance on him again, but he kept her away by holding his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Karin…" he said, "I really like you… you're always here for me…"

She chuckled. "I like you too, which is why I'm here for you…"

Manny kissed her again, then said, "I'd like to think that you'll always be here for me…"

She giggled again, and replied, "I'd like to think so too… it may not necessarily be love, but close friendship is pretty good, right…?"

Manny overtook Laen and Xenly, clutching at his chest over his heart, forcing back his tears and emotions. He had never felt love for Karin until everyone else he knew had died, and then it had been taken away from him so quickly… he couldn't bear the sudden pain he was feeling, and gritted his teeth to keep himself quiet. He didn't want to show a weakness in front of Marcus… or any of his few remaining friends, for that matter. He had been full of enthusiasm after leaving the ruined village, and moreso after catching up with Karin, but now he wasn't so sure… he might lose his other friends, too, and then what would he do?

She was always there for me, almost as long as I can remember… he thought, closing his eyes firmly, and forcing himself to march onwards.

**To be continued…**


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Pit Stop

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 17 = Pit stop**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

The sunlight was setting across the lands of Chyrus as the rain fell down in a steady stream from the heavens. Manny, still in the lead and marching fervently, spotted lights out of the darkness ahead, and called back to the others, waiting for them to catch up, before the group then continued onwards towards what turned out to be one of many travellers' inns in the lands.

Many such inns had grown from what was originally just a single establishment, providing food and shelter to wandering travellers… for a price. Given that the people who visited the inns tended to be very tired from long travels, they were perfectly happy to pay slightly higher than average prices for rooms and food, since it was often a long way to the nearest city or town.

Manny pushed the door open and went inside, closely followed by his companions, who were equally eager to get out of the rain. They were greeted by the warmth from a nearby wood fire, and a pale yellow Birdo hostess behind a bar serving a pair of Yoshies who looked like they'd been there for some time. The Birdo, who was wearing a pure white silk bow, waved to them as Marcus closed the door behind him, and Manny went up to the bar in front of her.

"Please tell me you've got room for us… I don't want to go back out in that weather."

She nodded, and replied, "For the four of you? Yes, I've got rooms… would you mind sharing two twin rooms?"

Manny looked over his shoulder, but the others were already by the fire, warming themselves in its glow. The blue Yoshi chuckled as he turned back and said, "I think they'd stay even if we had to share beds."

He paid her for the two rooms and collected the keys, before joining his friends over by the fireside. Holding up the pair of tagged keys, he jangled them to attract attention and said, "Okay, we've got a pair of twin rooms. Are we going to have to fight for who goes where or can we work this out sensibly?"

"Guys-girls." Xenly said almost immediately. "No offence, but I'd rather not sleep in the same room as you, if it's all the same."

Laen nodded in agreement, and Manny tossed Xenly one of the keys. The elf and the Yoshi left, heading through the door marked 'Guest rooms', while Manny, still dripping rainwater, sat down on a sheepskin rug next to Marcus and slowly dried himself off in the heat of the fire.

Silence held for a moment, before Marcus inquired, "Well… are you going to tell me what's troubling you now?"

Manny looked away from him, but turned back again after thinking for a moment. "I might as well… I can't hide much from you, anyways."

He took a moment to pick up a small log from a wood crate next to the fire, before throwing it on top of the other burning logs. He sat down again, and kept his gaze on the flaming wood as the flames began to lick at the bark and send curly wisps of smoke up into the chimney.

"You know the whole situation about me and Karin… we were never like you and Alziana, but we were still fairly close… I never thought that I loved her, and I never said I did, but after we lost everyone else… well, it kind of changed my perspective of her, and pretty much everything else for that matter… and then I lost her before I could fully comprehend what was going on…"

Marcus gave him a comforting pat on the back. "Well, you're handling it better than me, anyways… I'm sorry I couldn't save her, but I'm just not strong enough to pull two Yoshies…"

Manny narrowed his eyes, not taking his gaze away from the fire. "Yeah, well, nothing that can be done about that now."

Marcus detected the haughty tone in his friend's voice, and cautiously asked, "Manny… are you mad at me?"

Manny closed his eyes and looked away. "Not at you, Marcus… not at you."

Both were silent for a few moments, then Manny sighed and got up to leave. "I'm going to the room… it's room seven, just so you know… I'll be there if you need me, okay?"

Marcus nodded, and Manny left him by the fireside as he went off to the room. Marcus looked over his shoulder and took a look around the inn lobby; the walls were mostly white plaster, and the way into the next room had a large wooden support beam in the middle of it. In the room where he was there were a few pictures on the walls, several wooden chairs and tables, comfortable cushioned chairs around where he was sitting, and the bar that the Birdo was still behind. No longer wet, Marcus got up and took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs, watching the fire crackle in front of him.

I wonder if Manny's going to be okay…

Xenly was lying on her back on one of the beds, having taken her shoes off to relieve her sore feet; she didn't like walking long distances at a time, since she tended to get blisters on the backs of her feet quite easily. Laen had taken off her leather mantle and was currently around the corner from Xenly, removing the rest of her soaking clothes and allowing them to dry. Xenly removed her swords from her back, dropping them onto the floor next to the bed, before rolling onto her front and burying her head in the two pillows in front of her, exhausted.

Laen's voice floated around the corner. "You know, there's something peculiar about those two."

Xenly rolled onto her back again, leaning forward to unhook the bedsheets from her talons. "What are you talking about?" she replied as she fiddled with the cotton sheets.

"I don't know… they just seem to be acting pretty strange for young Yoshies… not that I'm an expert or anything on you, but still…"

"They've lost all their families and everyone they've ever known. Of course they're going to be behaving a little oddly."

Xenly heard water hitting the basin of the sink in the room as Laen wrung her clothes out. "Yeah, good point. You know, I never expected to be travelling around Chryus with three Yoshies for friends, but you can't predict the future."

"Hey, I thought I'd be an assassin all my life…"

"Yeah, what happened to you? Why'd you get exiled?"

"Long story." Xenly replied. "A botch on my part, really… normally, after a job, I hide in a different place to where I normally live, but I was still packing my things when they caught me in my flat. I got taken to court and tried, but there wasn't enough evidence against me, so I was exiled after being proven to be an assassin."

"Hmm… how many people had you killed by then, anyway?"

Xenly paused for a moment, trying to think. "Well, I'd been there since I was about ten… I finished my training and got hired a few times that year…" she went silent again as she attempted to count her jobs, but the numbers eluded her. "I really can't remember… but at least three to four hundred people."

Laen gave a whistle of admiration. "Nice. I can imagine you made a lot of money for that, huh?"

"Kind of. The guild took a lot of it, but there was still a substantial amount left over afterwards… a comfortable life, but I earned my fair share of scars."

Laen came back around the corner in dry but extremely wrinkled clothing. "I can imagine. It's pretty late… I think I'm going to get some sleep."

"Yeah, me too. 'night."

"Goodnight."

Laen closed the curtains and blew out the candles, before making her way to her bed and slipping under the covers. She could hear Xenly's snores, but fell asleep a few moments later regardless.

"You've been there for half an hour." The Birdo said, tapping Marcus on the shoulder with a claw. "Are you alright?"

Marcus snapped out of his daydream. "Huh? Oh, yeah… I'm fine."

"Hey… what's with your eyes?"

"Nothing, nothing… I'm not sure myself, but they've been like that as far as I can remember…"

"Oh, okay… anything I can do for you?"

"We-ell…" Marcus said, thinking for a moment. He suddenly realised he had no idea what time it was, and asked, "Hey, what's the date today?"

"Thirty-fifth day of Lazrin. Why?"

The Chyrusian calendar consisted of ten months, each forty days long. The original calendar had coincided with the movements of the two moons, but later it was considered easier to take the round number of days that it took for one of the stars in the sky to appear in the west and do so again the next year, since it was bright red and stood out from the others.

Marcus registered what the date meant. "Whoa… hey, that means I've been seventeen for three days. To think I spent most of my birthday in a prison cell…"

He stood up and headed for the bar, while the hostess overtook him and went behind the bar to serve him. It seemed that the place had filled up a little since Marcus had arrived, but he still managed to grab a stool as he reached into his saddlebags for some money. He pulled out a handful of change, some of which he'd taken from Manny before they made the crossing, and looking at the bottles behind the bar, he spotted a bottle of wine and asked for it.

A delicacy among Yoshies was wine made from fermenting melons rather than grapes. It was a lot sweeter, and came in a variety of strengths, not to mention the wide selection of spiced wines and other similar things. The bottle Marcus had just ordered was full strength, and the Birdo uncorked it for him before moving on to other customers. Marcus poured some of it out into a separate glass, and gave a silent toast to himself, before taking a sip of the sweet liquor.

Manny was tossing and turning under the duvet, furiously trying to get to sleep but having no success. He had no idea how long he'd been lying there, but gave up and whipped the duvet off of himself, frustrated.

Almost tripping over his equipment that he'd dropped down next to the bed, he got up and went to the window, parting the curtains and looking out into the night. Rain was still beating against the plate glass, and the clouds were obscuring the view of any stars or moonlight that may have been out there. Manny scratched his saddleless back as he looked out into the darkness… had it stopped raining since he'd lost Karin? It didn't seem like it, and the weather was starting to wear him down; if it was still raining in the morning he'd probably pay for another night.

He turned around as he heard a knock on the door, followed closely by a suppressed hiccup. Manny opened the door to find a sorry looking Marcus standing outside; his red eye outlines had dilated to at least double their normal size, and he seemed to be having trouble staying on his feet. He staggered in the room, mumbling something, and Manny could smell the alcohol on his breath as he passed.

Why didn't I think of that? Manny thought, I should've gotten sloshed and forgotten about Karin for a little bit…

"What's the booze-up in aid of?" Manny asked, closing the door.

Marcus groaned, slurring his speech badly. "I've been sheventeen for three daysh… I kinda overdid it shelebrating…"

Manny rolled his eyes. "My only consolation is that your low tolerance means you probably didn't spend too much. How much did you have?"

"Two bottlesh… full shtrength, of coursh… I think I'm gonna lie down and shleep thish off…"

In the dark, Manny heard metal clinks as Marcus undid the buckles on his saddle, before letting it fall to the floor along with his saddlebags, then he removed his shoes and fell onto the bed, falling asleep within seconds.

Manny sighed as he got back into his bed. He didn't know if he'd make it all the way to the end of their journey… he didn't even know if he wanted to any more.

**To be continued…**


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Back On The Road

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 18 = Back on the road**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Note: Until further notice, Cursed Yoshi will be updated every Sunday. Also, these stories are in their original format on my site (http:darkmark.darkolicrpg.com) along with other things of mine, like artwork and sprite comics, should you wish to see them there.

"Ohh… oww… my head…"

Marcus rolled onto his back and tried to open his eyes. His head was pounding, and he squinted his eyes shut again as sunlight streamed in through the window. He sat up groggily, holding his head in his hands, but a wave of dizziness made him fall back to the bed again.

"Hangover?" Came Manny's voice from somewhere to his right.

"Shut up…" Marcus replied, groaning as his stomach churned.

Manny gave him a light pat on the back. "Need anything?" He asked.

After groaning a second time, Marcus sat up again, holding his stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

"Well don't be sick on me, man. We're on the ground floor; just open that window right next to you."

Marcus got on his knees and leaned over, opening the window latch with one hand, before pushing it open as far as he could and leaning out of it. The fresh air made him a little less hot, but it didn't do much for his nausea, and Manny kept his left hand on Marcus's back as the brown Yoshi retched repeatedly.

"Be careful there, Marcus; don't dissolve the window ledge."

"Shut up, Ma-… urgh…."

Several minutes later Marcus stopped groaning, and Manny took a glass, filled it with water, and brought it back to his friend. Marcus wiped the vomit from around his lips, before taking the proffered drink and washing his mouth out.

"You just had to get smashed last night, didn't you?"

"I said… shut up…"

"Welcome to seventeen years. It only gets worse here on out."

After meeting up with Xenly and Laen, the group had breakfast in the lobby they had arrived in the day before, though Marcus didn't exactly seem keen to eat much. After paying for the food Manny led the group out of the inn, and back along the road.

The sun was shining brilliantly, and not a cloud hung in the sky. Laen took her leather mantle off and carried it in her arms as the day progressed, but the endless miles of road made the travel very tedious, though eventually they reached a fork in the road just outside a forest. One path went around it while the other went straight through, but only a small stump of wood remained in the ground to ever signify that there had been a signpost.

"Well…" Manny suggested, "Should we flip a coin?"

"Heads the forest, tails… not the forest." Xenly said.

"What?" Marcus cried, as his blue friend began to take a coin out of his saddlebags. "This is an important decision… we can't just decide on the flip of a coin whether or not to take a perilous route or a longer yet probably safer one! We…"

Many hours later, under the shaded path leading through the woods, the trio of Yoshies and their elven companion were walking along, with a furious Marcus in the lead.

"I can't believe we tossed a coin." He muttered.

"Was there any better way to do it?" Manny asked.

"Well… that's not the point. The point is that this forest could be filled with all kinds of horrible, unspeakable nasty things that we've never even imagined might exist…"

The group abruptly went silent as a branch snapped, but Laen coughed and muttered, "Sorry…", before they continued on. As they proceeded into the forest, Marcus was sure he could hear noises up ahead, but Manny denied hearing them, as did the others, until a sudden, hoarse cry came to them from up ahead, whereupon they stopped dead in their tracks and went to the edge of the path.

From out of the woods in front of them they could hear heavy footsteps and a hissing sound emanating from the tide of shouts that followed it. A Koopa in a green shell came running forward from the forest, looking behind it, oblivious to the four travellers up ahead of it. When it turned forward and saw them, it came screeching to a halt and was almost immediately faced by the combined wrath of the three Yoshies.

The Koopa growled and cursed them in the Koopa language, pivoting on its feet to deflect attacks off of its impenetrable shell. The swords and Marcus's flail balls merely bounced off the calcified outer shell, doing nothing more than making light scratches in the greenish colour. Marcus called out for the others to step back, and immediately all three of them ceased their attack on the Koopa, who turned and looked behind it, following the gaze of the Yoshies.

Behind it were even more Yoshies, but they certainly weren't like any ones Marcus had ever seen before; their normally white chests seemed somewhat tanned, showing a definite orange colour. They carried simple weapons like spears made from wood and small knives, but wore neither saddles nor boots, instead donning various items of jewellery, and one near the front had a cloak. The talons on the ends of their feet were dull and slightly dark, and, Marcus noticed with a start, every last one of them had bright red eye outlines like his.

"Ferals!" he muttered, trying to piece everything together. He could understand now why their 'disguise' outside Lince could have been easily seen through, but what was with their eyes? He was sure he didn't have feral ancestry as far back as he knew, since ferals never left the safety of the feral community. Maybe it was a coincidence or freak mutation?

The Koopa, trapped between the motionless group of ferals and the four travellers, chose to try and break through the latter, pouncing on Manny before the startled eyes of the ferals. Xenly and Marcus came to his rescue, swinging their weapons as the Koopa to make him leave Manny alone, and once Manny was free of the Koopa, Marcus pressed an attack against it, pushing it into the gap in the road between the groups.

He managed to stun it with a blow to its unprotected chest, before leaping into the air and coming down on top of it, knocking it to the ground. With one foot on the Koopa's shell, he kicked the back of the Koopa where its tail protruded from the shell, propelling it forward and out of the shell onto the grassy verge next to the path.

As the Koopa leapt to its feet, Marcus kickflipped the shell upwards, before snatching it out of the air with his tongue. Dodging a running swipe made by the Koopa, Marcus spat the shell back at the Koopa, knocking it over and stunning it momentarily.

Some kind of instinct had completely taken over Marcus now as Xenly and Manny watched him, somewhat bewildered. After kicking the fallen Koopa once more to check it was stunned, Marcus grabbed it around the waist with his tongue, before pulling the whole thing into his mouth, and swallowing heavily.

Manny winced. "Oooh, that's going to hurt…" he muttered to Xenly, who mumbled in agreement. The ferals and Marcus's friends could see him gritting his teeth, straining, before he clutched at his slightly bulged gut and moaned in pain.

Xenly shook her head in despair. "Yoshies should never try to swallow anything that large before they're at least twenty. He could seriously injure himself."

"Yeah," Manny added, "Smaller things, maybe, but a whole Koopa? He's crazy."

Marcus moaned in pain as he doubled over, and put his hands out to hold his weight as his intestines churned. It took several minutes before he finally laid the egg, whereupon he collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath. Manny and the others came to help him, but there was a raucous chorus of laughter from the ferals, which Marcus tried to ignore.

"Those city Yoshies are ever weaker than we thought!" he heard one shout in old Yoshi. "I mean, how many times do you see an egg get laid with blood all over it?"

Blood? Marcus thought, and he pushed himself up so that he could look over his shoulder. Sure enough, the egg was liberally coated with bright red blood, and Marcus could feel sharp pains all throughout his body.

"You idiot." Manny muttered as he grabbed Marcus's legs so that he and Xenly could carry him. Marcus groaned and replied, "Yeah, thanks, there's no injury so bad you can't feel stupid about it too."

"That… was… sickening…" Laen muttered. "Is there supposed to be that much blood?"

"Nope." Xenly muttered, holding Marcus's hands and heaving him up off the ground. "Let's just hope these ferals will still help us…"

Manny called out to them in Yoshian, "Fellow Yoshies! Is there any chance that you could help us?"

"None," came the reply, "At least until we stop laughing…"

A female feral came out from the group and came towards them, suppressing chuckles. Her wrists were adorned with gold bracelets, and a few of her fingers with silver rings, her coloured skin was bright red, and her chest was prominently tainted orange. She walked up to Marcus, suspended in midair thanks to his friends, and looked him closely in the eyes, studying them for a moment, before putting her left hand on his nose.

"He has our eyes!" she called back. "Maybe we should help him!"

The laughter died down, and a feral Yoshi under a light cloak came forward, also studied Marcus's eyes, and wiped sweat from his nose while he thought. He asked Marcus if he could walk, and after Manny let his legs down, he discovered that he could so long as Xenly held him up. The feral, apparently a leader of some sort, beckoned to them and said, "Come, travellers… tonight we shall grant you our hospitality if you would care to share some of your stories with us. Our village is not far; just follow my lead…"

He began to walk off and lead the group of ferals, closely followed by Manny and Laen, with Xenly and the injured Marcus bringing up the rear. The red feral female grabbed the Koopa shell from where it lay, and Marcus asked Xenly to stop for a moment while he reached out with his free hand and grabbed the egg he had laid, wiping the blood off on the soles of his shoes, before placing it gently in his saddlebags with his other things. He didn't know if it would do any good, but he figured he might as well take it after all the pain he had just gone through…

**To be continued…**


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Feral Country

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 19 = Feral country**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Much, much later, as evening turned into night, the group of ferals and the four travellers that accompanied them reached the edge of a forcefully cleared section of the forest. It was completely unlike the elven village they had been in less than a week ago; instead of being built in harmony with nature like the elvish tree houses, the ferals had cut down and uprooted enough trees to make a clearing for them to pitch their tents, which appeared to be made out of some kind of fabric Marcus had never seen before. The layout of the tents was fairly erratic, and even though feral Yoshies were running around all over the place, it somehow seemed to Marcus that this was how it always was in a village hidden in the forest.

The group of ferals dispersed as they entered the village, leaving the three Yoshies and Laen with the red female and the cloaked male they had seen earlier. The two of them then lead the travellers on a weaving path through the village, stepping around various possessions strewn on the ground near the entrances to tents as well as the occasional large fragment of Yoshi eggshell here and there.

As they walked through the village, Marcus noticed, many of the ferals would temporarily stop what they were doing and stare at the travellers as they went past. Marcus wasn't surprised; aside from the fact that one of them was an elf, the Yoshies were city Yoshies that stood out from the ferals, and Marcus was pretty sure that the entire underside of his tail was coated in blood, which he could feel running down his skin as he walked with one arm around Xenly's shoulders.

They were lead into a largish tent, which had two feral guards outside of it, both dressed in cloaks and holding wooden spears with sharpened points. They parted to let the group through, and Marcus found himself inside a very lavish tent that obviously came with some kind of power in the feral community. It was lit by several candles that burned silently, releasing almost no smoke into the tent yet casting a fair amount of light.

The red feral motioned for Marcus to lie down on a largish cushion on the floor, and Xenly gently let him down onto his back. Manny looked away in slight revulsion; from between Marcus's legs all the way down to the tip of his tail, his white underside and a little bit of his brown skin was completely stained red from blood. The red feral grabbed a towel made of some kind of furry white fabric, and began to wipe off the blood as the others found places to sit on the floor. The cloaked feral took a seat in a small wooden chair that had many carvings across it, most of which appeared to be letters in the old Yoshi alphabet.

The red feral began to rinse the bloodstained fabric, muttering quietly to Marcus in her native tongue. "You're not bleeding any more… but it'll probably sting for a bit until whatever was damaged heals over."

Marcus nodded and mumbled his thanks, and she took a seat on the floor next to him, putting the towel off to one side to dry. The cloaked feral Yoshi looked at each of them in turn for a moment, before speaking in a clear, commanding voice in the old Yoshi language.

"I am the chief of this feral community. My name is Andreas, and this is my daughter, Shiala. Would you care to tell me your names?"

Manny nodded and said, "Of course. I am Manny, and these are my companions, Marcus, Xenly, and Laen." He pointed to each of them as he spoke, and the feral nodded before continuing.

"I rarely bother myself with domesticated Yoshies or elves like yourselves… but I am interested as to why that one…" he pointed to Marcus as he spoke, "…has the eyes of Karshina like the rest of us do."

Manny translated for Laen as the feral spoke, but when he stopped she whispered to him, "Eyes of Karshina?" in a questioning voice.

"Karshina is one of the Yoshi goddesses." Manny replied in a low tone, but stopped again to translate as Marcus began to speak.

"I wish I could tell you that…" Marcus said in a quiet voice. "Neither of my parents had them, nor my grandparents… nobody I knew had them; none of my friends or distant relatives… the only slight hiccup is my great-grandfather; nobody knows who he is, and since my great-grandmother died shortly after laying the egg with my grandfather in it, nobody remains alive to know…"

Andreas nodded as Marcus finished, before getting out of his seat and kneeling nose-to-nose with Marcus, staring into his eyes. Eventually he stepped back and sat on his chair again as he spoke.

"I don't imagine that your great-grandfather was a feral… we never leave the community or travel to the cities; it's just too dangerous for us. It's entirely possible that it's just a mutation… but it still seems pretty strange to me. Let me see your talons."

Marcus paused for a moment, before leaning forwards and undoing the laces on his right shoe, then slipping it off and allowing it to fall to the floor. Both ferals came forward to look, but Marcus could see for himself that his shiny white talons were very different to the dull cream-coloured talons on the two ferals in front of him. They stepped away again and Andreas had an expression of confusion on his face as he drummed his fingers on the chair in thought.

A few moments later, he shrugged and slowly removed his cloak. "Well, we can talk later… it's very late, and Koopa hunting is tiring. I can set you three up in other tents for this one night." He said, gesturing towards Laen, Xenly, and Manny.

"What about me?" Marcus asked, struggling to sit up on the cushion.

"You stay here with my daughter… you're injured, so you should have someone nearby in case your condition gets worse."

With that, he stood up and led the others out of the tent, leaving just Marcus and Shiala on their own in the tent. He led them a few yards away to another, slightly smaller tent, opened the flap, and let them inside. "This one is empty;" he explained, "the family that used to live here got ambushed and killed by that Koopa we were hunting this afternoon."

"Ah…" Manny muttered after translating for Laen, "So that's why you were after it?"

"Yes… but we would have attacked it anyway; Koopas are a very dangerous species. We don't consider them to be more than animals… anyway, get some sleep, and I'll see you in the morning, when we can talk some more."

Andreas left them, closing the tent flap as he did so, and leaving them alone in the dimly lit tent. They could see that there were several cushions like the one Marcus had been laid down on in the other tent, as well as a few things that probably belonged to the previous family. Laen grabbed a few of the cushions and laid them down, before stretching out on her makeshift bed, but caught sight of the two Yoshies kneeling down with their right hands over their chests, in front of a small table on one side of the tent.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, but didn't receive a reply from either of them. She could faintly hear Xenly muttering something, but it was inaudible to her, and she simply waited for them to finish whatever it was that they were doing.

Eventually, they both stood up and let their hands fall to their sides. Xenly grabbed the remaining cushions and tossed one to Manny, while Laen just looked at them sceptically as Manny set down his cushion next to her. She could see that there was a small statuette of a Yoshi on the table the Yoshies had been kneeling in front of, but she wasn't sure who it was.

"What were you doing?" She asked again, and Manny simply replied, "Praying." as he got comfortable on his cushion.

"Praying?" Laen asked questioningly. "You're the two least likely people I'd see kneeling down and praying. One's an assassin with hundreds of kills to her name, and the other's a vicious swordsman with few morals in combat."

"Hey!" Manny replied haughtily, "I do too have morals! Just because you only saw me fight in Lince doesn't mean that's how I fight all the time."

Laen shrugged, noting that Xenly hadn't given a reply. "Whatever. Is that a statue of your god?"

"One of them." Manny muttered. "There's eight of them, and the whole Yoshi religion is based upon them; that one there is a statuette of Sorsoy, the goddess of hope and courage. You can't see it on the statue, but her skin is a bright sky blue and she has vivid red fins. Do you see the little streamers coming from behind her? They say that they change colour according to her mood, but nobody knows, obviously. She's supposed to have forged a rapier that amplifies the intensity of magical spells cast by it, but it's believed to have been lost during the climax of one of the great wars long ago."

Laen was intrigued, and inquired, "What about the other seven?"

"Well," Manny continued, "There's three other female gods and four male gods, which is supposed to represent a balance that's meant to be reflected in our society, that females are just as good as males."

"If not better." Xenly added with a sly wink towards Laen.

Manny rolled his eyes before pressing on. "There's a number of old legends related to the gods… some of them relate to their weapons, but there are others, like the fabled Marble Altar that can bring back someone from the dead, or the Underworld deep below Chyrus where the most horrid monsters, dragons, and unspeakable demons are eternally imprisoned, though powerful summoners can bring them above the surface. It's said that one day the world will end when the forces of evil release the seal on the underworld, whereupon the lands will burn under the wrath of the evil creatures and all life is wiped out from the lands… which spells doom for the gods, too."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's said that the gods get their strength from those who believe in them… if all of the believers are killed, the gods fade from existence. Aside from Sorsoy, there's Karshina, the goddess of luck and fate, a female feral who manipulated magical force with nothing more than her mind and supposedly put the seal on the Underworld. She's supposed to have a dark purple skin tone and bedecks herself in jewellery, which is why so many ferals these days adorn themselves with rings, bracelets, necklaces, and so on. There's Miyala, the goddess of time and space, who is more like the god in human religion… she can see everything in the universe and every point in time whenever she so wishes, and is supposed to have been the first Yoshi oracle in the lands. She's dark brown, a little darker than Marcus, and has a strange birthmark on the back of her head that looks like a third eye. The final goddess is Laryshka, the goddess of war and power, who's… pure white… in colour… with white fins… and… long eyelashes…"

Manny suddenly stopped and looked behind him to Xenly, who shrugged noncommittally. "I'm no god. Trust me, if I was, I wouldn't be scrounging around the world with no money to my name and no family or lover."

The blue Yoshi looked at her oddly for another few moments before turning back to Laen and continuing unperturbed. "She has a white tongue, though, so it's obviously not Xenly. Anyway, if you ever see one of those old pictures painted in wartime with Yoshies praying before a battle, they're asking for blessing from Laryshka to see them through to the end of the day and return safely to their families."

Laen nodded. "Wow… everything is so in-depth, so detailed… we elves don't believe in gods… we believe that we are our own gods, that we shape our own lives and our own futures, our own destinies…"

"Well, everything has its own appeal." Manny said, getting back on topic. "There's four gods that supposedly watch over Chyrus along with the goddesses, but one of them… well, I'll get to him in a minute. The first god, the original god, is Eirsir, a green Yoshi with orangey-red fins like the rest of us. He's supposed to have had a golden sword embedded with jewels that could mould the very bounds of existence, create something from nothing, and destroy matter at its master's will… however; it's said to have been lost or broken, but only after the world as we know it was created and left to run itself."

"Wait a minute." Xenly interjected. "Your throwing knives… aren't they…?"

"I don't think they're real." Manny said. "I stole them when I was young from this human merchant who simply called them the Knives of Eirsir… that's when I got my sword and Marcus's flail, too. Besides, Eirsir had a sword, not seven throwing knives, and I'd KNOW if these things contained all the power in the universe." He patted his saddlebags as he finished his sentence, before stretching a little as he prepared to continue.

"There's also the god Vizorvy… the god of love and compassion, who is said to have done his best to convince everyone to be faithful, to stay monogamous, not to be homosexual or bisexual, not to pursue… uh… 'masochistic pleasures', shall we say, and not to… ah, I can't remember them all."

"Not to have sex for non-procreative purposes." Xenly said, slightly smugly.

"That's probably why I forgot it." Manny said sheepishly. "That last one didn't go down too well, but aside from that everything was fine. If you ever go to a Yoshian wedding, you'll see a carving of Vizorvy on the altar… he has black skin but bright pink fins, which is supposed to be symbolic of something."

"Then there's Tivaro… the god of knowledge and wisdom, an orange Yoshi with bright red fins like Sorsoy's. I heard that Yoshian schools and universities have statues of him about the place, but I've never been to one."

"They had one in the entry hall at my old guild." Xenly interrupted, irritating Manny a little. "They said he would help us learn our craft, or die in our search for knowledge."

"Anyway," Manny resumed, "Tivaro, it's said, used to invent things all the time, and he's most famous for the mass-printing of books. Normally, we Yoshies use knives to carve things into the leaves of a special kind of plant, the Vaell plant, and we'd record things that way. Tivaro came up with the idea of adapting a design that one of the humans came up with. You see, they print onto paper with an ink that stains the paper, and mass-printed books with something called a 'printing press'. Tivaro adapted that by using the same method, but switching the paper for Vaell, and using bladed letters of the Yoshian alphabet rather than ink-coated letters of the common tongue. The blades cut into the Vaell, saving hours of work."

"The last god… I dare not to speak his name here, for the true name alone is a curse in itself, used only as an insult or by those corrupted by evil, who wish to follow in his footsteps. Rather, people refer to him as the 'God of Death'… he's a dark red Yoshi with a black aura that rose to power and summoned all manner of creatures from the Underworld in an attempt to break the seal. Somehow he achieved immortality, and when he was finally struck down he became a god rather than dying. The other seven gods use all their power to stop him from wreaking havoc, but it's said that the God of Death stole Eirsir's sword. Rather than submit to evil, the sword fragmented, ending any significant intervention of the gods within the world today."

"Whoa…" Laen murmured, hooked on every word. "A god of death? Intense. But why would there be a god of death in the first place, anyway?"

"It wasn't meant to be that way… he has a long staff embedded with razor blades supposedly made from a tree from the underworld that glows with a red aura. It amplifies the intensity of spells, making all of them lethal. He somehow used it to gain immortality and become a god… but, get this: it's written in the legends that one day, a descendant of one of the original seven gods will sacrifice everything to banish the God of Death, but die in the process, and become what you might consider a replacement."

Laen exhaled slowly. "Wow… I wonder if that will really happen…"

"It's supposed to be a climax… the ultimate battle of good against evil… if evil wins, the seal on the Underworld is undone and Chyrus burns. If good wins, evil is forever eradicated and the world flourishes for the rest of eternity."

Silence held for a moment before Xenly yawned and lay down on her cushion. Laen shook her head and said, "That's an incredible story… but probably not one I should've heard right before I go to sleep… I'm going to -try- and get some sleep now, but after that…"

Manny chuckled as he, too, lay down on his cushion and closed his eyes. Laen snuffed out the single candle lighting the tent, then fell onto her cushions and became lost in a world of vivid dreams relating to the stories she had just heard.

As soon as Andreas left, Shiala took the now empty chair as Marcus pulled his egg out of his saddlebags, from where he had placed it earlier. It was smooth and shiny, and had several brown spots on it that matched the chocolate-brown colour of his skin, but unlike a real egg it was completely motionless as he held it gently in his hands. He hadn't seen a real egg, of course, but he knew that they were much larger and often moved a little from time to time as the baby Yoshi inside developed. Nobody knew what was inside a fake egg like the one he was holding, since breaking them open to find out caused them to burst apart in a small but non-fiery explosion that could easily stun people or hurt them with shrapnel.

He put it back in his saddlebags before taking them off and laying them on the floor next to him. He undid the laces on the shoe he was still wearing and slipped it off, but paused as he reached for the buckles on his saddle.

"Uhm…" he murmured, casting a look at Shiala. "Would you mind…?"

Shiala rolled her eyes, giving an exasperated sigh as she did so. "You're only taking off your saddle, right? I certainly hope that's all you're going to do…"

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not Manny." Marcus muttered as he unbuckled his saddle, before rolling onto his side so he could pick it up and toss it down onto the floor, next to his shoes. "After all, you're not wearing anything either, except for those bracelets."

Shiala nodded and said, "Ferals just don't usually wear anything. We're pretty tough and we don't need shoes…"

Silence prevailed for a little bit, before Shiala looked towards the now-closed tent flap. "What's it like to be a domesticated Yoshi?" She asked Marcus.

"Is that what you call us?" He inquired, and she nodded. "Well, it's alright, I suppose… I only lived in a small village, but I wouldn't mind living in a city."

"Yeah… I'd like to go live in the city eventually. Nice though it is here with my feral cousins, it'd be nice to go to some place with civilisation. I mean, I know it's out there; all I'd have to do is learn the common tongue and get some clothes…"

"This doesn't seem like a bad place, though. It must be peaceful here…"

"Only in this feral village. If you're living in one of the ones that keeps moving to avoid being torched, it's not so calm and peaceful."

Marcus nodded as he reached up to snuff out one of the lamps. "I'm going to get some sleep… good night."

Shiala got up to put out the other lamps as Marcus rolled onto his side and relaxed on the cushion. It supported his entire upper body, but his feet and tail could still touch the floor when he straightened out as though he were standing upright. He rubbed the side of his face against the cushion and smiled; the fabric was soft and fuzzy, and was cool to the touch against the moderate heat of the tent.

The tent went dark as Shiala blew out the final lamp, and he closed his eyes as he waited for her to leave and go to wherever she would be sleeping. He heard her shuffling around for a moment, and the bracelets on her wrists hit each other as she moved, but he opened his eyes again when he heard something soft hit the ground behind him. He looked over his shoulder to find that Shiala had put down another cushion beside his, and she bent down to it before lying on her side on top of the fabric cushion.

"Erm…?" he began, but she put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"I just want to sleep with you, that's all…" she said, her innocent tone of voice telling Marcus she meant literally, not figuratively. "I don't like sleeping on my own if I can help it; I enjoy the feeling of having someone next to me while I'm asleep… it brings me comfort. Is there something wrong?"

Marcus looked up to the roof of the tent with visions of Alziana floating through his mind. He had to admit that he, too, enjoyed sleeping next to somebody, but he had mixed feelings about it right now, and wasn't sure what to do.

"We're only going to sleep next to each other," she said as he was lost in thought, "I'm not going to come onto you or touch you up or anything."

Marcus made his decision; after all, it was nothing extreme. "Yeah… sure…" he mumbled, taking the moment to get a good look at her. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he could see that though she didn't have eyelashes yet, it was still obvious from her build that she was a female. He rolled onto his back as she settled down onto the cushion, and let his eyes close from tiredness as fatigue began to overwhelm him. He was still awake when she put her arm across his chest in a show of affection, but he was too tired to pull her off or ask her not to touch him. He felt somehow reassured to have someone next to him as he drifted off into his dreams, now untroubled by memories, visions, or the wills of the gods…

**To be continued…**


	21. Chapter Twenty: To Arms! To Arms!

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 20 = To arms! To arms!**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

There was a sudden, loud noise, like a thousand panes of glass being shattered at once. It was followed by a long, coarse, evil laugh of triumph.

Standing in the centre of a pentagram, the dark wizard Foryo simply stood laughing as he felt the curse leave his body and fade from existence. After trying any number of spells, he had finally resorted to some of the most arcane magic still known, and in a Yoshian book, of all things. And it had finally worked. At long last, he could get some sleep, but he had one thing to take care of first…

Stepping up to the table on which his crystal ball stood, Foryo pulled up a chair and began to weave his spell. He had no experience at being an oracle or predicting the future in any way, but he used the ball as a tool for scrying his enemies… searching for their locations in the lands of Chyrus…

As the image of a brown Yoshi with red eye outlines and folded arms swirled into his view, Foryo swore loudly, swiping the crystal ball off the desk in his fury. The solid crystal hit the floor with a loud thunk, bouncing once on the granite, before rolling to a rest on the cold stone floor, but its owner paid in no heed.

"That worthless lizard is alive! ALIVE! I sent an entire group of mercenaries after him and even went myself! How could he have possibly escaped?"

The black-robed wizard paced back and forth for a minute, before his eyes travelled to the pentagram etched on the floor. With a wicked grin, he strode over to the nearest bookshelf and pulled a large tome off of it, and after flicking through it for a little bit, he found the spell he wanted, stepping into the pentagram.

"Let's see how that overgrown lizard handles this!" he shouted, before beginning the incantation.

Meanwhile, in the feral village, Manny was sneaking across the ground in an attempt to keep quiet and not wake anyone who wasn't already up. He made his way to the tent Marcus had been left in, nimbly sprinting across the ground almost silently, producing only a soft pit-pat as his Yoshi boots hit the ground.

Parting the tent flap with his left hand, a massive grin spread across his face as he looked around inside the tent. Marcus was lying on his back on a large, purple cushion like he had been the previous day, and Shiala was asleep on her side on a similar cushion next to him, with one arm across Marcus's body. Both of them wore small smiles as they slept, and Manny took note of the small pile of Marcus's equipment next to the cushion he was on, stifling a chuckle as he guessed what had happened. Inhaling deeply first, he opened his mouth wide and shouted:

"Somebody got LAAAAAIIIIIID last night!"

Marcus snapped awake at the sound of Manny's voice, mercifully in the common tongue, filling the tent he was in. Flinging Shiala's bracelet-adorned arm off of his body, he leapt to his feet and reached for his flail, which was actually on the saddlebags he should've been wearing, on the floor, as opposed to his back.

"I did not 'get laid', you idiot!" Marcus shouted back in the common tongue. "We simply slept together!"

"Which, as you know, is a euphemism for a little of the ol' bedtime action." Manny countered with a sly wink.

Marcus folded his arms in indignation. "I told you, I did NOT-" he began, but stopped as he suddenly felt a strange prickling sensation on the back of his neck. He looked over his shoulders and around the tent, his eyes darting around, scanning everything, finally landing on a somewhat bemused Shiala, who had been watching the two Yoshies argue with each other.

"Marcus?" Manny asked as the brown Yoshi bent his knees and crouched down. "What's up with you?"

Marcus remained perfectly still for a few moments until the weird prickles receded, and he stood up again, scratching the back of his head, but then he shrugged to himself. He was probably just imagining things; it had never happened before in his life.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Manny continued, "It sure looks to me like you got in on a little Yoshi-on-feral action…"

Marcus held his head in his hands and gave a resigned sigh. "There's nothing I can say that's going to convince you otherwise, is there? I'm telling you the truth; all we did was fall asleep next to each other."

"Sure ya did!" Manny said with another wink. "After a little hot lovin', I'll bet."

Marcus narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Manny, listen to me! I am not you! Do you honestly think I'd do anything with Shiala after I lost Alziana? I am not going to get over her, not for a long time!"

Manny's only response was a derisive snort and his airy-voiced impersonation of the two Yoshies, accompanied by him clasping his hands and holding them up to try and look innocent. " 'Oh Marcus, after I die, make sure to stay miserable all your life for me!' 'Of course Alziana, and if I die make sure to stay a virgin for when we meet up again in the atheist afterlife!' ".

Marcus clenched his hands into fists, saying, "Manny, if you don't shut up I'm going to do something I might regret later…"

"What? Like turning around, going over there and giving Shiala a different sort of Yoshi ride for a second time?"

Marcus was overcome with fury and brought up his right fist, giving a powerful uppercut to Manny's jaw, and making him cry out in pain and step back out through the tent flap, with Marcus following him. Blood began to trickle out of Manny's mouth and he held a hand to his lips, crying out, "You made me bite my tongue! You… you… you spawn of Klashkna!"

Marcus heard a loud gasp from Shiala, who apparently understood the last word. In Yoshian, she cried, "Don't say his name! You'll bring death to us all!"

"Huh?" Marcus said, looking behind him for a moment. "Who's Kla-?"

"It's the real name of the God of Death. Used as an insult for the lowliest scum of the lands like you!"

Marcus turned around and swung for Manny, hitting him hard on the side of the head, but Manny regained himself and swung for Marcus, though he ducked and kicked Manny hard in the chest before taking a few steps back. Manny wiped the blood from his mouth before drawing his sword, and Marcus snatched his flail up off the floor with his tongue at lightning speed. The now armed Yoshies raced towards each other, and Marcus swung hard for Manny's arm, but he brought his sword up and deflected the blow, swinging back to counter the attack. Sure it would work again, Manny thrust his sword forward to try and impale Marcus, but the brown Yoshi dodged to the side before swinging for Manny's head. He ducked the whirling flail balls and swung his sword, opening a shallow wound on Marcus's chest when he didn't jump back far enough. Marcus kept a distance as he tried to make the balls spin around the end of the flail handle, but he failed again, leaping forward and smacking Manny's chest with the spikes on the flail balls.

Manny stepped backwards, holding his sword up defensively, gritting his teeth through the pain, and was about to make an attack when Shiala ran between the two Yoshies. "Stop it, stop it!" She shouted, putting her arms out to keep them apart. "Please, you're going to hurt someone if you don't stop!"

The two Yoshies stood still for a moment, before dropping their weapons with a pair of resigned sighs. "Sorry…" Marcus muttered in old Yoshi, "I just lost my temper."

"Yeah, well, I provoked you, that's my fault… you know I only do that for your reaction; I don't honestly think you and Shiala were steaming up all the glass bottles on the tables…"

Luckily for Manny, Marcus was interrupted in grabbing his flail by a tremendous crash and a sudden burst of screams and shouts from the other side of the settlement. A horrendous roar filled the air, and above all the racket, a clear call in old Yoshi came cutting through the air: "To arms! To arms! We're being atta-aaaauugh!"

The call to arms was cut off in a cry of pain, and Manny grabbed his sword from the ground where it lay. "You leave this to me!" he said, "Take Shiala somewhere safe… and any other ferals you find."

He ran off before Marcus could give an answer, and the brown Yoshi ran inside the tent to collect his clothes and belongings. Hurriedly strapping on his saddle and stepping into his boots, he was ready in half a minute, but was stopped by Shiala at the tent entrance.

"If you're going to go, take me with you… I want you to protect me."

"I'm not fleeing the village." Marcus said. "I'm staying and fighting… I'm not going to run."

He pushed past her and sprinted around a few tents and trees, but came skidding to a halt as he caught sight of the source of commotion. A huge, scaly creature with leathery wings was destroying everything in its path; blasts of fire from its mouth were setting plants and tents on fire, and many bodies were lying on the ground, often motionless and bleeding heavily. The creature let out another fearsome roar as it made another swipe for ferals trying to attack it, and Marcus's heart was gripped with fear.

A dragon. He thought. It's a dragon… a creature from the underworld… it's useless to run…

Marcus got in closer, making it to the edge of the area cleared of tents by the dragon's powerful, clawed hands. On the other side of the clearing he could see Laen and Xenly, and spotted Manny fighting beside Andreas as they attempted to hurt the dragon, even though it was almost three or four times their size.

The dragon drew back its head and inhaled, while Marcus made his way towards the elf and the Yoshi without being caught up in the battle. Looking back towards the battle, he saw the dragon lean forward and belch forth a stream of flame that enveloped the cloaked Yoshi and barely missed Marcus's friend. Andreas managed to run a few steps immolated in flames, but collapsed to the ground and remained motionless a few moments later.

"Father!" Shiala cried, and Marcus turned around to see that she was trailing behind him, following his path. He finally reached Laen as he heard the dragon's claws strike the ground, missing the blue Yoshi completely. Spotting Marcus, Xenly drew her swords and took a step forward, saying, "Right, I'm going to help Manny… give me some cover."

Laen nodded as she took her bow off of her back. Plucking an arrow out of her quiver, she opened a pouch at her waist and dipped the arrowhead into it, and when she removed it again Marcus saw it was coated in a green powder.

"Poison." She said by way of an explanation, as she notched the arrow to her bowstring and took aim. Manny managed to dodge another claw swipe and swing for the dragon's leg, but his sword bounced off the scaly hide leaving not so much as a scratch. Xenly's swords didn't do anything against the thick armour either, and she nimbly ran between the dragon's legs to dodge another swipe. Marcus heard the dragon inhale again, but Laen loosed her bowstring and he saw the arrow fly forward and strike the creature's chest, embedding itself in between two plates on the scales.

It shrieked loudly but continued to attack, taking a step forward and almost crushing the blue Yoshi who only just managed to roll out of the way. Marcus could see Xenly climbing up the dragon's tail, jamming her swords into the scales to act as leverage for her jumps, but as she leapt up to the dragon's shoulder it swung its head and knocked her off, sending her crashing to the ground where she bounced once before lying almost motionless, shouting in pain.

Laen cursed loudly, and Manny ran back to Marcus as a few more ferals arrived to try and fell the beast with their spears. "It's no use!" he cried, as sweat poured from his skin. "It's too tough… we'll have to run…"

"No!" Marcus commanded. "We've been running for too long! We ran from our village… we ran from the black forest… we tried to run from Lince… the line must be drawn here! We won't flee; we are going to hold our ground and fight, and we are going to win!"

Manny looked at Marcus for a moment, somewhat shocked, but caught his breath and turned back towards the battle. Laen ran after him and Marcus followed, casting a glance back to Shiala and making a 'stay there' motion with his hand.

Laen fired off another poison-tipped arrow that struck the dragon a little to the right of the first arrow. It roared and swiped at the arrows, snapping off the shafts but embedding the points even further in its body. Marcus jumped back to avoid another slash of the claws, shouting to Laen, "Why isn't the poison working?"

"It's huge!" She replied, referring to the dragon. "It's going to take a long time for it to take effect on something this large…"

As the dragon inhaled again, the two Yoshies and Laen both stepped back, leaping out of the way as a column of flame exuded from the creature's mouth. Laen notched another arrow as she stood up, and shouted, "Try and distract it! I'll aim for its throat…"

"Hey, over here!" Manny shouted at the dragon, but it swung to its right to swipe at Marcus instead, swinging its spike-tipped tail at the blue Yoshi as it did so. Manny leapt into the air and grabbed hold of one of the spikes, holding on for dear life as the dragon lashed its tail around in an attempt to shake him off. Laen's bowstring twanged and her arrow found its mark, but after another shriek of pain from the creature, it turned its attention to her. It pitched itself forward, snapping its jaws at the elf, and swung its tail up, and sending Manny flying into the air. He tried to flutter as he went hurtling forward, but went face-first into the ground and skidding a short distance, before feebly rolling over onto his now bloodstained front and groaning in pain.

Marcus went wide-eyed as he saw another friend fall, and while his concentration lapsed for a moment the dragon took its chance to dispose of Laen. It swung its right hand at the elf, and when she predictably leapt backwards it swung again with its other hand, catching her in midair and impaling her on one of its claws. With a single shake of its left hand she came free from the claw and was sent flying to the ground, leaving blood on the claw that had held her.

Almost choking on tears as he watched another casualty, Marcus turned to the dragon and focused on not becoming the next victim. He backflipped away to avoid another breath of fire, but was struck with the back of the dragon's hand and knocked away, landing next to Shiala, who cried out when he did so.

He was slightly dazed but sure that he had broken a rib, and forced himself to stand up. He got up off his side, patting the saddlebag with the egg in it, thinking, good thing I didn't land on that…

Wait a minute!

Lightning fast, he flipped open the cloth saddlebag and pulled out the egg, being very careful not to drop it. Holding it in his right hand and leaning back, preparing to throw, he took careful aim as the dragon inhaled once more, tipping back its head. I only have one shot…

He threw the egg with all his might, sending it sailing up into the air and straight for the dragon's head. His aim was off and it smashed into the dragon's nose, but the egg exploded into fragments with a smallish fireworks display, sending shrapnel into the dragon's eyes. It gave a deafening roar as it firmly closed its eyes, before slashing with its claws randomly, attempting to hit anything that came into its path.

Then, Marcus saw something as he was suddenly overcome with dizziness; darting up its back was the white ninja Yoshi, though with much caution and audible moans of pain as it did so. Clambering up the dragon's back and onto its head, Xenly held her swords against the dragon's skull before thrusting them down, through the scaly skin, and into the dragon's brain. It gave a loud yet fading cry as it tipped its head back, forcing Xenly to pull out her swords and jump to the side, before it toppled backwards and knocked down at least three trees, falling to the forest floor with a ground shaking crash.

Xenly rolled as she hit the ground and came to a halt next to slightly disoriented Marcus. She gave a cheer and high-foured him, but suddenly stumbled forward and grabbed hold of Marcus as she fell. He tried to hold her up again, but she appeared to be unconscious and slipped out of his grasp, falling to the floor and remaining motionless. Marcus held a hand to his chest where he felt a stab of pain, and slumped to his knees next to her as dizziness overcame him, spotting Shiala running towards him as he blacked out and collapsed.

She quickly took his pulse to make sure he was okay, and did the same for Xenly, before signalling to some survivors to pick them up. Running over to the injured Manny, she found him barely hanging onto his life, with blood coursing down his chest and a broken leg. Running on to Laen, she found her conscious but on the verge of death as she held a hand over a gaping wound in her stomach. Her blood had soaked into the fabric of her clothes, staining them red, and Shiala knew it was hopeless to try and help her. Laen's eyes opened a tiny fraction, and she tried to force a smile as she felt herself slipping away. Feebly reaching up to her neck and taking off her necklace, she gave it to the red feral and whispered, "Marcus…" in a very faint voice. Shiala nodded as tears streamed down her cheeks, but Laen then gestured towards her bow, which had fallen next to her. The elf pointed to the feral, and Shiala understood what she meant, picking up the bow and holding it where Laen could see. With a final smile, Laen closed her eyes, and Shiala couldn't hear her breathing any more as Laen's life left her body…

**To be continued…**


	22. Chapter Twenty One: Haunted By The Past

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 21 = Haunted by the past**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

About two hours after the attack, Shiala was pacing around inside the tent in which the three surviving travellers were staying… or, more accurately, had been carried off to while they were unconscious. Laid out on one mattress was the grievously injured and unconscious Manny, with two ferals - a blue one and a yellow one - tending his wounds and trying to heal his injuries with slow but steady success. Next to him was the sleeping Marcus, who had a bandage over a broken rib but appeared to be healing well, thanks to the efforts of the few ferals who knew a few things about medicine. Stretched out on a couple of cushions next to Marcus was the healed-but-resting Xenly, who had a large cast around her left wrist and was also sleeping silently.

Shiala stepped forward and sat down next to Marcus. He was sleeping on his side, facing her, and she gently reached out to stroke the fins on the back of his head affectionately. His frown turned into a gentle smile, and he mumbled something Shiala couldn't hear, so she bent forward and put her head next to his as she continued to softy stroke his fins.

"Mmm… Alziana…" she heard him mumble, "you always liked doing that to me…"

Shiala stopped and took her hand away, looking at Marcus for a moment as he fell silent again. Who was this 'Alziana'? A relative? His sister, perhaps? Maybe his girlfriend? She made a mental note to ask him once he woke up as the two ferals next to Manny called her over.

"We think he's fine now…" one of them said as he tore the end off a roll of bandage and plastered it over an incision. "He shattered his ribs, broke his leg, and dislocated his shoulder… we had to do some minor surgery for his ribs… thank the gods he didn't regain consciousness. It'll take the rest of today for him just to be able to walk around again, but he'll be okay after a couple of days."

Shiala nodded. "Thank you so much for all your help…"

"By the way," the second feral piped up, "Now that Andreas is dead… are you going to stay here and take over from him?"

Shiala sighed and shook her head in response. "I don't think so… he never told me what to do if something like this happened, and I'm not very experienced… maybe I should leave it to somebody else."

Both medics nodded solemnly in agreement, before getting up and leaving with a bow towards Shiala. She watched them go before turning back to Marcus and sitting down next to him, and gently placing a hand on the side of his head. He smiled again as she did so, but a few moments later he woke up and slowly opened his eyes, looking up towards Shiala, retaining his smile.

"Hey…" he said, but she put a finger to his lips again. "Quiet… Manny and Xenly are asleep… or unconscious."

Marcus looked around to confirm it, then turned back to her with a worried look on his face. "What about Laen? Where is she?" he asked.

"Laen didn't make it… she died after you collapsed and we've already buried her along with my father and the other dead ferals…"

Marcus's eyes dipped, and he muttered, "I see… did she say anything? Was she even alive when you got to her?"

"She was alive… just. She could barely speak, and I can only guess what she meant by her actions. She took off that necklace of hers and said your name… I think she wanted me to give it to you."

Shiala took the necklace off of her wrist where she had been keeping it, and handed it to Marcus. He hesitantly took it and sat up, before undoing the clasp and placing it around his own neck, fastening it firmly once he had done so, before looking back towards Shiala.

"She… also made it fairly clear that I was to take her bow… I also took her arrows and her poison pouches, but I'm not sure why she wanted me to take them…"

Marcus shrugged. "I'm not sure either… but I'm not sure of much any more."

He gently put a hand on the bandage on his chest and drew a sharp breath as he felt a stab of pain. Shiala pulled his hand away and said, "You broke your rib… you'll be okay by tomorrow but you should take it easy."

Marcus nodded, and Shiala snapped her fingers as she thought of something. "Oh, by the way," She inquired, "Who is 'Alziana'? You were muttering her name in your sleep…"

Marcus dipped his eyes and looked away from her, and spoke softly as he did so. "She… she was my girlfriend before I had to leave on this journey… I loved her… that is, we loved each other dearly… and I never thought what I'd do if I lost her…"

"Why? What happened?"

"She died… in my arms… the last thing the said was, 'Never forget, Marcus… never forget'…"

Shiala put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh my goodness… I'm so sorry… I didn't realise that, or I wouldn't have asked to sleep with you…"

"I should've told you, I suppose… mind you, it wasn't anything serious, so I let it go… but, you know… thanks."

"Huh? Thanks? What for?"

A tiny smile crept onto Marcus's face. "You comforted me a little with your presence… I hadn't slept that well for a long time, so… thanks."

She smiled and replied, "You're welcome."

They remained silent for a moment, before Shiala stood up and beckoned to Marcus from where he was sitting. "Come on, let's go outside… it's cramped in here."

Marcus got to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily, and followed her out of the tent, walking slowly to avoid straining himself, and he found her pointing to the area cleared by the dragon. There were mounds of overturned dirt there, and Shiala said, "That one with the red flowers is Laen's, and the one with the pile of different flowers… is my father's…"

She turned around, looking away from the painful sight, and Marcus opened up his arms to her as she sniffled a little. "Come here…" he said, and she hesitated for a moment before flinging herself into his arms and burying her head in his chest, careful not to put any weight on his injury. He put an arm around her and rested his other hand on the back of her head, hoping to console her a little with the gesture and make her feel a little better. Looking over to the clearing, he could see ferals scrambling over the dead dragon like ants; many had knives and were cutting chunks of flesh away with quite some difficulty, others were removing portions of skin, and a few were pulling out fangs, carrying them off to somewhere Marcus couldn't see.

Shiala let go and stood toe to toe with him for a moment, before she took his hands as he let them fall to his sides, and returned his gaze to her. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment, but she then surprised Marcus by leaning forward and kissing him passionately, wrapping her lips around his and trying to tongue him a little.

Marcus gave a muffled command, before putting his hands on her chest and gently but firmly pushing her away from him. Still keeping her at arms' length, he sighed and said, "It's too soon… I don't want to just yet, you know?"

"I understand…" Shiala replied, somewhat disappointed, "but when Alziana said 'never forget', I don't think she meant 'never forget me or move on'… she maybe meant 'whatever you do, just don't forget what we did together'."

"I… I… I know…" Marcus stammered, "but still… I just… just give me some time, okay? I want to make new memories, sure, but… I want to keep the old ones too…"

"Um… Alziana… I don't exactly know how to say this…" Marcus started. He pulled himself together and tried not to stammer. This is it… he thought, this is the point of no return. It's do or die time. He looked deep into her eyes, and continued. "I… really enjoy your company… and… I… find you… quite attractive…" He felt blood flow through his cheeks, but tried to ignore it as he pressed on. "And… I… I…well… Alziana, I… I think I'm in love with you… no, I am in love with you."

There. He'd said it. He'd done what he had intended to do, and fairly well at that, so now he just had to wait and see what happened.

She drew away from him with a gasp, and she closed her eyes and was clearly thinking hard, and after a few moments she opened her eyes, and he could see them travel up and down, looking at him. She seemed uneasy, and Marcus was sure he'd done it wrong; maybe he'd said it too soon, or too late, or maybe she was matching Manny's description of excessive innocence…

Marcus was sure his heart was going to burst right out of his chest; he dreaded the response. What would happen now if it all fell apart on him? He'd probably leave and try to keep a straight face until he got home, where he'd undoubtedly drown his sorrows in any wine he had… then, Marcus saw her start to say something.

She spoke slowly, clearly, and slightly seductively, but in a low tone. Her soft voice had been making Marcus more agitated by the minute.

"Marcus… I…" She began, and Marcus held his breath. He was sure this wasn't good; her eyes were half-closed, and he couldn't quite tell how she felt, but the tone in her voice filled him with dread. She paused for a moment before continuing, but instead of crushing his dreams, she uttered the words he had always wanted to hear…

"…I… Love you, too."

Allowing only for a moments hesitation, she then leaned forward and kissed him. It was like nothing Marcus had ever experienced before; as they first began to embrace Marcus was filled with anticipation, then, when they started to kiss, he was wary but almost instantly tightly took her in his arms and rocked back and forth. Her lips were soft and warm, and Marcus happily kept taking his away to kiss her again, enjoying the moment more than anything he had ever experienced before. Then, as she pulled him close to her he kept a continuous kiss, and a surprised Marcus felt her tongue in his mouth, gently touching his own and planting a sweet taste on it. He worked his own tongue around hers and into her mouth; their tongues slid over and past each other like intertwining serpents, and before he knew it, Marcus's heart was racing, and he was breathing extremely heavily through his nose, as he experienced the greatest pleasure he had ever felt in his life so far. He closed his eyes and pulled her as close to him as he could manage, continuing the kiss as he ran his hands up and down her back, and didn't ever want to stop. He put his weight on her and pushed her down onto the sands, still caressing her back and tonguing her as much as he could. He laid on top of her, enjoying the feeling of the contact of their skin, and continued the kiss for as long as he could possibly manage. Eventually, he broke off and gasped for breath, with the sweet taste of her lingering on his tongue, feeling happier than he had ever been before…

"Hello? Marcus?"

Marcus snapped out of his daydream. "Huh?"

"You went into a trance or something for a moment… are you sure you're okay? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything…"

Marcus shook his head. "It's alright… I'll be okay…"

"I… uh… Marcus, I was wondering… can I come with you?"

"What?"

"You heard me… I want to get out of here and see the world… to travel the lands of Chyrus and see the cities, the civilisation… as much as I like it here, I want to see what else there is, and to perhaps stay there if I like it enough…"

"I don't think it would be a good idea. I think me and Manny are being hunted down… maybe that dragon was related to that, maybe not, but still, it's not safe…"

"I don't care! Why do you think Laen gave her bow to me? She wanted me to go with you!" Shiala said, raising her voice a little.

Marcus paused for a moment, with his mouth slightly open as though he was about to say something. He closed it and nodded slowly, before saying, "I suppose you're right… but I'll have to see what Manny and Xenly say first."

Shiala smiled and headed into the tent with Marcus following her. To their surprise, Xenly and Manny were already up, though the latter was lying on his back and looking quite pale, his eyes looking around the room as he lay there otherwise motionless.

"Hey Manny," Marcus asked, "You okay down there?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Manny said quietly. He seemed to be having trouble speaking. "What… happened…? Did we… win…?"

"Sort of. Laen's dead, but Xenly, you, me and Shiala are okay."

"Laen…"

"Impaled. She entrusted Shiala with her bow and that necklace of hers to me."

"Am I… gonna be… okay?"

"Yes… but you'll have to stay there for the rest of today, and take it easy afterwards."

Manny nodded weakly. "Okay… thanks, Marcus…"

He closed his eyes and his head sagged, and Marcus shook him. "Manny? Manny, are you okay?"

"He's just asleep." He heard Xenly say. "I'm sorry to hear about Laen…"

Marcus nodded. "Wherever she is now… well, we'll just have to avenge her, as well. I don't know, but I just have this feeling that the dragon didn't arrive here by chance or bad luck…"

**To be continued…**


	23. Chapter Twenty Two: Farewell To The Fera...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 22 = Farewell to the ferals**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.  
  
Note: As an advance warning, I will be on holiday from the 4th of July to the 11th. There will be no updates for the two sundays during that period, but the first sunday after I get back there will be a triple upload of three consecutive chapters._

Marcus slipped out of his dreams and back into the real world, but kept his eyes closed and lay where he was on a set of cushions, enjoying the fuzzy feeling they had against his skin. For a moment he thought he had a blanket over him, but soon realised that it was in fact Shiala lying almost on top of him while he had slept on his front. He flexed his toes experimentally and found that he wasn't wearing any boots, and decided to open his eyes and look around despite the probability that he'd sorely regret it.

A pair of white shoes was in front of him, and his eyes travelled up the legs that were with them and eventually settled on Xenly's disapproving face. Next to her was a sorry-looking Manny with a large bandage on his chest and a cast on the lower part of his left leg, but he had a far more jovial expression than the white Yoshi did.

"Enjoying yourself there?" She said, folding her arms.

"Oh, give me a break, we didn't do anything." Marcus muttered. "If it was Manny lying here underneath a girl, something probably happened, but it's not Manny on his front here, it's me."

"Actually," Manny corrected, "If it was me I'd be on top of the girl, not the other way around."

"Whatever." Marcus said with a resigned sigh. He reached up and gently shook Shiala, and she rolled off of him groggily, falling onto another cushion beside the one Marcus was lying on. She gave a low groan and looked up, blinking a few times as the light hit her, before burying her head in one of the cushions and giving a much louder groan.

"We didn't do anything…" She mumbled, almost incoherently. "Me and Ma… Ma…" she paused for a moment to yawn loudly, then continued, "…Marcus just fell asleep together…"

"Again." Xenly interjected.

"Yeah… again…" She muttered, before her head slumped forward and she began snoring once more. Marcus blushed and scratched the back of his head under the questioning gaze of Manny, saying, "Hey, I don't know why she's so tired either. Seriously… stop looking at me like that…"

Manny gave a little smirk, and Marcus got to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily. "Come on, Manny, you know me. I don't like kids. I've never wanted any children and I definitely don't want any now or in the future, especially not by accident. I wouldn't do anything with Shiala for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones is that I wouldn't want to inadvertently have any baby Yoshies."

The blue Yoshi folded his arms and gave an exasperated sigh. "Well, if you're going to be all reasoning and logical about it, then I'll let it slide… but I can tell that you won't hold out for long."

"Oh, give me a break. Shiala is just a friend… a close friend, sure, but… you know, even though she's not my girlfriend, I still want a little female companionship, you know? Like you and Karin."

Manny nodded. "Yeah, I see what you mean… alright, whatever, I've seen enough of this place, now let's get out of here. We've been here long enough and I could do with getting back on the road… we'll never reach Sansata if we don't keep walking."

"Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah… I think so… I can't fight but I can still walk, so we may as well push onwards, right? Anyway, we'll be just outside if you need us."

He hobbled out of the tent, followed by Xenly, and Marcus gently pushed the feral with his foot. "Come on, get up, or I'll leave you behind…"

"I don't know why, but it just irks me for some reason…"

Xenly and Manny were sitting on the ground outside Shiala's tent, waiting for their companions to join them. Xenly clenched her fists and continued, "It's just… I don't think that Marcus knows just what he might be getting into… I don't know too much about ferals or their culture, but Shiala might not quite understand what Marcus may or may not want…"

Manny gave a noncommittal shrug. "I know Marcus a little better than you do. All jokes aside, I think he might just be using her for some kind of emotional support. He seems a lot more cheerful now that he was before; it's almost like she's healing some deep emotional scar of his."

"Well… maybe…" Xenly mused, "But I can't really see this ending well. She's a feral, he's one of us, and she's what, maybe fifteen? He's sixteen…"

"Seventeen." Manny corrected.

"Seventeen, then. They're just too different for it to work out well…"

The sound of the wind in the leaves around them was all that could be heard as Xenly went silent, then Manny gently put a hand on her shoulder and inquired, "How's the wound healing?"

"Not bad, not bad… I don't think it's as deep as Karin thought it was, so maybe it will heal eventually… I can use my arm as normal now, but it hurts if I try to move it too much… how's the… uh… whatever it was you injured?"

"Practically everything. It hurts a fair amount, and if I try to do anything strenuous it's just agony…"

They heard footsteps behind them and turned around to see Marcus and Shiala walking out of the tent, though the latter seemed somewhat groggy and reluctant to be up and moving around when she could be lying on a cushion asleep. They could also see that around her waist she was wearing Laen's poison pouches, the quiver was around her right shoulder, and had the elven bow strapped firmly to the quiver itself, in addition to the jewellery she was wearing. Manny got to his feet and Xenly followed suit as they prepared to leave, but a small group of ferals waylaid them just as they started off.

"Miss Shiala," one of the started, "Are you leaving us already?"

"Yes…" she replied, "I'm going to go with Marcus and his friends now…"

The feral near the front, a dark grey one, dipped his head sadly. "We understand… we eagerly await your return, miss Shiala, so please don't disappoint us."

"I'll try not to." She said with a smile and a little wave. "I'm sure you can decide amongst yourselves who will be the new leader, but I'll try to come back one day."

"Thank you, miss Shiala." He muttered, then looked up again. "We have a few things for you to take with you… we hope they'll be of some use."

The ferals behind him stepped forward, each holding something different out for them to take. The grey feral picked up the object from the feral next to him, and stepped forward to Manny, handing it over to him cautiously.

"It's a shield made from the skin of that dragon that was slain a couple of days ago… it's very tough, and is remarkably heat resistant…"

Manny looked at it for a moment, admiring the shining brown scales that covered the framework they were stretched across. It seemed that the dragon's green skin had lost its colour and darkened, otherwise he would have recognised it immediately. He strapped it around his left arm and held it out experimentally, nodding at the feral as he did so to express his thanks.

"For you, Marcus, we have a small gift… it's not much, but please take it anyway…"

The feral picked up a red watermelon from a feral's hands behind him, and gave it to Marcus, who took it curiously. "Aren't watermelons normally green?"

In reply, the feral said, "Normally, yes, but this one is special… red watermelons have traces of some strange material in them that we do not know of, but it catches fire on contact with water… when you eat it, you will be able to breathe fire for a little bit, but if you don't do it quickly you'll burn the inside of your mouth."

Marcus nodded and put it in the saddlebag he had previously had the egg in. The feral then took a large backpack and gave it to Shiala, saying, "In here is plenty of food to last you in your journey over the mountains… I assume that's the way you're headed?"

"I think so, yes." She replied. "That's the general direction we're headed in anyways."

She took off Laen's quiver to put the backpack on, before strapping the quiver around the backpack with help from Marcus. The feral then took something from the arms of the final waiting feral, and handed it to Xenly.

She looked at what it was he had given her, before looking up. "Spiked shoes?" she inquired, half-closing one eye questioningly. The grey feral nodded and said, "A traveller left them here long ago… we thought they may prove useful to you."

Xenly muttered her thanks and put the shoes in her saddlebag, and Shiala waved to the group of ferals. "Thank you very much for the gifts… we will leave now, but I shall try to return as fast as I can. Goodbye!"

"Farewell!" They chorused, and the group headed off away from them into the forest. Shiala spared another glance over her shoulder as she left her home, waving again to the ferals as they became smaller, before the trees completely blocked them out. With a sigh, she moved closer to Marcus as the group moved on…

They walked for the rest of the day until the sun began to set and darkness spread across the lands, making it impossible for them to advance any further that day. Manny was cursing from the pain every so often, and they had to walk slowly to accommodate for his broken leg, so as soon as it got dark they found a small clearing and decided to stay there for a night, lighting a campfire on which to cook some of the food from Shiala's pack.

It turned out that the ferals had given her some dragon meat that they had cut from the fallen beast, and they roasted a slab of it over the fire before dividing it up between them. It was tough and chewy, but being Yoshies they simply swallowed it whole once it was cool enough to do so.

Silence filled the air for a few moments afterwards, until Shiala got up from where she was to sit next to Marcus and put an arm around him, a gesture that he returned. Manny took another branch and threw it on the fire, before looking around and asking, "Anyone got any campfire stories?"

"No, not really." Marcus muttered. "Most of this journey could be a good one, though, but I doubt I'd tell people about half of it."

Manny nodded and added, "Yeah, some of what's happened to us I'd rather not recall either… something that I'll just have to hide, I suppose."

"Ah, don't feel so bad about it. Everyone has dark secrets they don't tell anyone about; they keep them inside where nobody can learn of them. Sometimes it's a good thing, but sometimes it's not so good… people can help if you a lot of the time if you tell them what's wrong." Xenly said.

"And what about you, o master of the shadows?" Manny inquired with a facetious tone in his voice. "Have you got some horrible nasty secret locked in your heart that you never let escape?"

Xenly looked off to one side and closed her eyes. "Well, yes… but I'd rather not talk about it, if it's all the same to you."

"Ah, go on, how bad can it be?"

"Very… it's kinda upsetting…"

"Well, okay," Manny replied, a little disappointed, "If you don't want to tell us about it, it's your decision…"

She looked back up and opened her eyes again, then sighed. "Never mind, I might as well… it was a long time ago before I got exiled…"

"At the time I was a sixth-level assassin, still in the employ of the assassin's guild in Dhalsa… Dhalsa's a freezing cold city in the south of Chyrus in the middle of the Ailena wastes, which is a huge snow-coated mountain range in itself. I was twenty at the time…"

"Wait," Marcus interrupted, "How old are you now?"

"Twenty-four." Xenly replied. "You would've only been about twelve or thirteen back then. Anyway… I was striving to be a better assassin and all the rest of it… but, even though it was against my teachings, I found a lover. I thought that a little weakness in the house of someone I knew wouldn't hurt me or kill anyone…"

She sighed and stared into the fire for a moment before continuing. "His name was Vick Lestan, and he was a light grey Yoshi with this big house and lots of rooms… wealthy businessman type… twenty-two, I think he was… we met in a back street as I fled the scene of one of my jobs, and he offered me a room in his house because he hated the police force. It's run by humans there, you see, so he felt gratified to thwart them if he could, and I got a nice, soft bed that night. In the morning he told me I was welcome back any time, and gave me a key to his door, which I told him was a bit controversial, since I'm an assassin… or at least, I was then. All he said in reply was, 'I trust you'."

Xenly gave a little smirk, then pressed on. "Needless to say I went back… and I got to spend time with him, and it grew from there, in a way. He was very nice to me… he gave me food and a place to sleep, and over time he got me loyal to him… a little plan of his, I suppose, to get cheaper assassinations. Eventually he asked me to employ my skills for him in return for everything he'd given me, and I accepted and did the job he wanted without question or payment. When I came back he was waiting for me, and he thanked me profusely and all the rest of it… then he kissed me for the first time, and I always took that to be the moment that we'd become lovers."

Shiala smiled and said, "Aww… that's so sweet…"

Xenly nodded at her, smiling back. "I know… after that, I spent a lot of time with Vick… I only went to the guild when I needed the money for something, or they called me in for one of their own assignments; at the guild there're two kinds of jobs, ones paid for by customers, and guild-assigned ones to silence rogue informants, traitors, defectors, moles, people who want assassins dead, and that sort of thing. So anyway, I got to know Vick better, but he never let me in the west wing of his house, for some reason that I didn't find out for some time. Then, one day, he told me that he had a confession to make; that he was married and had a kid, but it had been a forced marriage and he had never wanted the child, though he looked after them regardless. It seemed that he got drunk one night when he was twelve and when he woke up the next morning, he was in bed with a green Yoshi, and she had laid a Yoshi egg, so their parents forced them to marry… or something like that, anyway. He and his wife were always arguing, and that's why he had wanted to look for someone else… and he kept them in the west wing, which is why I wasn't allowed in there… I felt pity for him and forgave him, and our relationship went on…"

She closed her eyes and smiled, then continued, "And, of course, eventually it happened… he took me to bed with him one day when I was twenty-one, and I thought that my life was perfect… he told me that one day, when the time was right, he'd ask me to get rid of his wife if he couldn't divorce her, and then we could get married and I'd be his son's stepmother… I never did catch the name of his son, but I found out he was an orange Yoshi about fifteen years old at the time when, unfortunately, he found us kissing one day and ran to tell his mother. I hid in the east wing while Vick went to sort it out, but when he didn't come back I drew my swords and headed for the west wing… I followed the sounds of his voice to the master bedroom and found the three of them in there, arguing. He was trying to explain things to her, but she was screaming and shouting, and the kid was crying for them to stop… I couldn't just stand and watch; I stepped in and intervened… big mistake."

"Why?" Shiala asked. "What happened?"

Xenly kept her eyes closed and didn't reply for a moment, and Shiala looked intently at her. "Xenly… are you crying?"

The white Yoshi brushed away the tears and shook her head, forcing herself to continue. "I told her what Vick had told me, and gave my version of the story, but it didn't help… the kid ran off crying and she started screaming louder, before she told him to choose… either me, or her and his kid."

"He was crestfallen and asked me to leave and come back the next day… I didn't have anywhere to sleep, so I simply went to the guild and did a job for them while I was waiting… but when I came back, I looked at the board again, and… I…"

Xenly swallowed heavily, trying to hold back her tears. "I… I could see two new jobs… one was a high-paid request to kill me, from Vick's wife… and the other was a guild job to eliminate both Vick and Vick's wife, her for asking me to be killed, since the guild doesn't like losing higher ranks, and him for 'corrupting an assassin'… which they thought he'd done to me with his soft treatment. I took both of the job slips up to the tenth's office… uh, tenth-level assassin's, that is… and asked about them. He said that he'd shred the first one if I took the second job… and if I did it, they'd promote me to seventh-level. I didn't know what to do… if I didn't do the job, someone would kill me, but if I did it, then I'd have to kill Vick… I went to Vick's house anyways, and…"

She fell silent again, and brushed tears from her eyes before continuing, determined to finish. "I went to the master bedroom… they were both there arguing, and I showed them the job slips… I think I may have been crying, but I don't know… I… I took some needles out of my saddlebags and they both just looked at me, sort of stunned, and I threw the needles… one to induce temporary paralysis, one to kill. The first aimed for my Vick… and the other for his wife. I meant to knock him out so I could claim him as dead, then escape the city with him or something… but because I was so upset, I wasn't concentrating, and…"

"…And?" Marcus asked.

"I… I…" Xenly choked on her tears, but finally managed to force out, "I… mixed up… the needles…"

She looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown, but somehow was managing to keep her emotions under control. "I… I killed him… I killed Vick… as soon as I realised, my heart tore in two, and I could barely stay upright, I was so distraught… I'd killed the only man I'd ever loved, accidentally on top of it all, and she, his wife that had caused him so much grief, was only paralysed… but I'd realised my mistake too late, and I could only see her breathing as they lay on the floor, and not him…" Xenly clenched her fists. "I couldn't believe what had happened… I drew my swords and killed her with a single stroke, then painted the guild's mark on her chest with her own blood. But… I forgot about their kid, and left in tears without getting rid of him… he wasn't on the guild's death list, but I don't like leaving loose ends… and when I remembered the next day, he had escaped the city and was officially missing. I got the promotion to seventh-level and the money for the job, but no reward they could have given me could have made up for what I lost in the process… and it wasn't any good anyway; I was so upset by Vick's death that I botched on my next job and got caught and exiled… the worst part is that I never heard his answer… whether he chose me or his existing family…"

Marcus's throat was dry and he couldn't speak as she finished and held her head in her hands. He felt Shiala's arm tighten around his shoulders, and Manny only managed to whisper, "I'm so sorry…"

"It… it's okay…" she murmured. "I… I feel better for telling you about it… I… I'll be fine…"

She sat back against a tree and closed her eyes, and Manny got up to put the fire out quietly before taking off his saddlebags and using them as a makeshift pillow, putting his dragon skin shield off to one side. Shiala hugged Marcus tightly and whispered to him, "Please stay close to me… I'm upset and I don't want to be alone… I feel sorry for her but I… my throat is all dry and I can't…"

Marcus hugged her back and whispered, "It's okay… it's not going to happen to you… now just get some sleep for tomorrow…"

"I know, but I'm sad…"

"It's alright… we'll help her in the morning if she needs it… goodness knows, I would, if something like that happened to me…"

**To be continued…**


	24. Chapter Twenty Three: Second Meeting

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 23 = Second meeting**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this. However, the characters are of my own invention, and must not be used without my permission.  
  
Author's Note: Just another reminder that there will be no updates from the 3rd of July to the 14th of July, as I will be on the other side of the atlantic ocean and therefore unable to update. However, once I get back I will put up a triple update on the first Sunday after I return to rainy old England.

As soon as dawn broke they set off again in silence, with Xenly taking the lead and the others following her at Manny's pace. Marcus could see through the layers of leaves that the sky was clouded over and likely to rain on them as the day went on, but looked back down to keep his eyes on the white Yoshi in the lead. Eventually he ran forward to catch up to her and walked beside her so they could talk, greeting her with a little nod that she returned.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and she nodded slowly in reply.

Marcus paused for a moment before talking again. "Are you sure? You don't look okay…"

"I… I'm fine…" she muttered quietly. "I just… it still gets to me that I never heard who Vick chose, and it eats me up from the inside…"

Marcus put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Well, this is just my opinion speaking, but… I think he would have chosen you."

"Really?" She asked, looking towards him.

He nodded and continued, "From what you said and how they were still arguing when you showed up again, I think that he chose you over her… after all, he'd already said that he wanted to divorce her and marry you, hadn't he?"

"Yes, but…" Xenly murmured, "He was being forced to chose then and there… and he wouldn't have sent me out if he was going to chose me, would he?"

"Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to try and explain it to his wife on his own… and he asked you to come back, didn't he?"

"Yeah… I… thanks, Marcus… it'll still haunt me to the day I die, but I… thanks for that."

"You're welcome." He said with a smile.

Meanwhile, behind him, Manny and Shiala were engaged in conversation as she held him with one arm around his shoulders to try and help him walk. The blue Yoshi was trying to manage on his own but still was having trouble, especially with the extra weight of the shield he had been given.

"Marcus is so caught up in his past that he won't even consider anything with me…" Shiala complained, "I just want him to notice me and give me a chance."

"Don't believe everything Marcus tells you about Alziana." He said as they struggled to keep moving onwards. "Did he mention her age?"

"No, he didn't." She replied after a moment's deliberation. "Why? Is there something I should know about that?"

"Well, she was older than him by about six months." Manny explained. "His birthday was the thirty-second of Lazrin in the year 2140, and hers was the twentieth of Zhila in the year 2139. Since the Chyrusian calendar goes Sallah, Rhian, Phynna, Lazrin, Eira, Jallora, Valsa, Zhila, Tisea, Freca, then goes back to Sallah, that makes her six months and twelve days older than him."

"Yeah, so?" She retorted. "I'm only fifteen; I don't care about age gaps."

"Yes, but maybe Marcus has a taste for older women…?"

Shiala gave an exasperated sigh and replied, "Oh, come on, it was only a few months. What about his other girlfriends?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, any other girlfriends he had?"

Manny gave a loud burst of laughter, making Marcus turn around and look at him, but he suppressed himself after a moment. "Uh, no. Marcus hasn't had any other girlfriends. Ever. I've been his friends since he was two weeks old, and Alziana was the only girl he ever expressed any interest in for his whole life. Consider yourself special."

"Wow, you and him are opposing scales sometimes."

"Not half! I think I went out with practically every girl in the village except for Alziana, plus there was that one who was visiting, not to mention those twins, and…"

"Alright already." Shiala said, silencing him. "I get your point; you're a womaniser and Marcus is a romantic. But he might not totally be a lost cause, you know… I mean, he's already slept next to me a couple of times now, and he seems to enjoy that…"

Manny nodded, then nudged her and inquired, "What is it that you want from him, anyways?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you want a relationship out of him, or do you just want some kisses, or a close friendship, or what? Maybe you're following my old ideologies and you want to knock boots with him?"

She gave a giggle and replied, "No, no… besides, I'm not even wearing boots. I just want him to hold me and kiss me when I need it… I don't want to rush into anything, but I just think he's kind of cute…"

"Ah, smart move. You know, people keep saying that civilised society is deteriorating because more and more people get intimate at a younger age, but I personally think it's more a sign that society's getting better… people trust each other more at that younger age, and they've done away with all that romantic crap… the whole courtship, seduction, and all that stuff that Marcus still seems to believe in. There's a bad side to it, sure, but doesn't everything have a down to all its ups?"

"Hey," she said, "That's pretty deep for someone like you."

Manny recoiled in mock offence. "Isn't a guy entitled to his views anymore?"

"Well, yeah, but I always thought that… ah, never mind."

"A word of advice; the way into Marcus's heart will be to swamp him with flattery and then lay it onto him slowly… I watched him and Alziana in their first months together and that always won him over to whatever she wanted to do with him."

"Thanks for the advice…"

"Hey, listen Shiala, if Marcus doesn't want anything to do with you, I'm always here." Manny whispered with a seductive wink. "Once my leg's healed, of course, but after that…"

"Haven't you got any limits? I'm much younger than you are, you know."

"The younger the better." Manny said with a grin, then added, "Well, that gets a little ridiculous after a certain point, but you know what I mean. And I'm only about six weeks older than Marcus, for your information. You know, I don't think age matters so much with Yoshies, since we tend to look the same for most of our lives… I mean, just between you and me, if Xenly was looking for someone, I'd sure offer her some of me…"

"You really have got no limits." Shiala muttered.

"Hah!" Manny replied, "You ought to see me alone with a hot girl…"

Shiala gave a jocular "Oi!" and cuffed the back of his head as they tried to catch up to Marcus and Xenly, who had stopped suddenly and were beckoning for them to take cover behind some bushes along with them.

"What's going on?" Manny whispered as he sat down, propping himself up on his tail. Marcus replied, "There's somebody ahead… two people, I think, but we can't see who they are…"

He fell silent again and listened intently as footsteps began to approach them. There were two voices coming from the direction of the footsteps, and they began to become clearer as they got closer.

"…not so sure, man, I mean, we can still go across the range…"

"Hey, there's only you and me, and I'm not going to risk that place without a map or a guide or something. Personally, I'd rather be set back a little in terms of time than put my neck out to try and get back to Corvan quicker."

"Dude, your girlfriend is waiting there, and so's everyone else…"

"And I'd rather that we actually got there rather than being killed halfway back. Let's just go back to Lince and see if we can get some help…"

"Lince's miles away! We'll have to go back across that land bridge again… isn't there anywhere closer?"

Xenly drew her swords with a soft shring as the footsteps almost reached their hiding spot, but Shiala, unable to understand the common tongue, leaned over to Manny and asked for a translation. He put a finger to his lips as Marcus readied his flail, and she fell silent.

"Not that I know of, Dave. Just suck it up and follow me; we'll be there soon enough."

"But I'm not even allowed in Lince. It's alright for you, you're a Yoshi, but I had to try and escape when they thought I was one of those rebels… I just thought they'd relaxed their policy, but no, it seems their leader had been possessed…"

"That's what you get for being a human, Dave. But hey, it's not like you're totally innocent; only humans are allowed in the capital city… if I ever wanted to go there, I wouldn't be able to get in because of the whole species prejudice policy they have there."

The two of them passed by the group at that moment, and Xenly leapt forward to grab the Yoshi, who was closer, while Marcus jumped for the human and brought him to the ground with his flail handle over the human's throat. They struggled in vain for a moment before giving up, and Marcus took a look at who he'd subdued; he was a human of medium height with short, black hair and pale skin, with a traveller's cloak covering most of his body, except for his feet where Marcus could see a pair of leather boots. In the hand that Marcus had under his foot, the human was carrying a long spear with pointed heads at both ends, a weapon that Marcus had seen somewhere before…

He looked up to see who Xenly had caught, and his suspicions were confirmed; in her grip was a Yoshi whose colour went from red on his nose to bright orange at his tail, and he also had a double-ended spear in a pinned hand. Just as Marcus realised who the Yoshi was, Manny got up and cried out, "Hey, I know him! That's Visali from that contest in Lince!"

Xenly got up and let go of him, and he got to his feet, brushing mud off of his chest. "Ah, Manny, we meet again. It seems you've got another pal… hey, where's that dark blue chick you were hanging out with back in Lince?"

"She died… fell off the land bridge when we were crossing it."

"I'm sorry to hear that… how've you been aside from that?"

They were interrupted as the human coughed and said, "Uh, if anyone wouldn't mind, this isn't particularly comfortable…"

Marcus got off of him, muttering an apology, releasing him from his grip and putting his flail back in its spot on his saddlebags. The human got back up and dusted himself off as Visali blinked and stared at Marcus.

"Well," he said to Manny, "I see that your friend got over his death."

"Yeah, I got better. It was just a mild case of death, anyway." Marcus replied sarcastically. "A few days' bed rest and I was just fine."

"A great recovery." He said, somewhat disturbed, but turned back to Manny. "Anyway, who's that with you?" He asked, gesturing towards Shiala.

Suddenly switching to old Yoshi, Manny said, "This is Shiala… she's a feral, so if you want to talk to her you're going to have to talk in Yoshian."

She nodded and gave a little wave, and Visali nodded back. Talking again in the common tongue, he said, "Hey, nice job there… is she yours or is she free for the taking?"

"Mine, actually." Marcus interjected, stepping up next to her. Just to emphasise his point he put an arm around her, and she returned the gesture enthusiastically.

"Oh, well…" Visali murmured, before continuing. "Which way are you heading, Manny? We were just off in the direction of Lince…"

"We're heading for Corvan, but we were planning to go over the mountains."

"Ah, I wouldn't recommend it." Visali replied. "Apparently the place is absolutely swarming with Koopas… I wouldn't like to face those things on my own or just with Dave, but… hey, would you consider a travelling partner or two if you're off that way?"

"Sure, why not? We need extra fighters to cover for me while I've got this cast on my leg and while Xenly can only use one hand…"

"Xenly? Didn't you kick the eggs out of her back at that tournament?" Visali asked, half-closing one eye to give a questioning look. Manny nodded and gestured to the white Yoshi, who had sheathed her swords and was currently standing with her arms folded. Visali nodded his reddish head as he turned back to look at Manny, and grinned. "Well then, we'll just be tagging along if that's okay with you…"

"Yeah, sure, but what are you doing with a human? After all, they don't like us and the feeling's mutual…"

"Hey, there are always a few exceptions." The human said, speaking up from the sidelines. "I don't really mind Yoshies, and that great war was over a thousand years ago. Visali's a good guy and he doesn't mind me either, so we figured we'd just let bygones be bygones and all that."

Visali nodded. "Yeah, something like that anyway. Uh, Manny, this is David, but I just call him Dave for short…" Indicating each of the Yoshies in turn, he continued, "Dave, this is Manny, this guy here is Marcus, that one there is apparently Xenly, and this red one is Shiala, who won't understand a word we're staying because she's a feral."

Dave nodded at each of them in turn, before gesturing along the road. "Well, we should get going… we won't get far just standing here and talking."

"Hang on, hang on." Visali said, waving for everyone to stop. "There's something I want to take care of first. Manny…" he began, "After you beat me badly in Lince I did a little work on my weapon here… since I've got the opportunity, I want a rematch; you and your sword against me and my new quadra spear!"

"What? Hey! No way, I've got a handicap!" Manny replied indignantly, tapping his cast. "Someone else can stand in if you want to fight that badly…"

"Well?" Visali asked, "Anyone here willing to stick up for Manny and give me a shot?"

Xenly smirked and stepped forward. "I will. I need the practice, anyway… the last real challenge I had was that dragon we took out a few days ago."

"I was wondering where Manny got that shield…" Visali muttered, before readying his spear. "Alright then, Xenly, don't hold back… let's see what you've got!"

They moved out into the path where there was more space, and the others moved to the roadside while Marcus quickly told Shiala everything that had just been said. Xenly drew her swords with a little flourish, apparently unhindered by the cast around her wrist, and Visali gave a malicious smile as he held his spear ready, before leaping forwards and making a stab for Xenly's chest. She sidestepped the attack and swung with her right sword back at her adversary, but he caught it on the spear shaft and turned it through a half-circle to force it away from him, but she swung upwards with her other sword and knocked his spear back a little. Gripping it firmly with both hands, Visali took up a defensive stance to deflect four successive blows from Xenly before swinging sideways to repel another attack. He then made a stab forward and missed, but his follow-up leg sweep took Xenly's legs out from under her, and she fell onto her beck, but agilely rolled backwards and leapt back to her feet unharmed.

Visali planted one end of his spear into the ground and flicked a catch somewhere near the middle, and there was a loud click but no visible change to the quadra spear. However, when he plucked it out of the ground the spearheads on either end slid out a short distance on chains, and swung slightly as he held the whole thing level to the ground. He held it at an angle over his head and began to spin it through a full circle, gaining momentum and speed, and the two spearheads became level to the spear as he stepped forward towards Xenly with a confident smirk on his face. Suddenly lunging forward, he caught her by surprise and she barely managed to raise her swords to block the attack, stepping back quickly to avoid being hit, unsure of how to attack her adversary. Suddenly hitting upon an idea, she opened her saddlebags and pulled out a ninja star, throwing it towards Visali with the intention of only hitting his arm to make him give up, but he moved his quadra spear down and caught the star in the shaft.

Splitting the shaft into two, with loose spearheads at the ends of both spear shafts, he resumed spinning the spears skilfully as has advanced on Xenly again, but her keen eyes picked out a gap where he wasn't defending. She quickly whipped a needle out of her saddlebags and threw it, and it sailed past the two spears before embedding itself in his nose. He suddenly stiffened up and fell backwards, dropping his quadra spear and landing on his back, unable to do anything other than look around or breathe.

"I win." Xenly said smugly, leaning over him and pulling the needle out of his nose. Manny and Dave gave her a round of applause, but Marcus ran over, somewhat worried. Xenly saw him trying to pick Visali up off the ground, and she said, "Don't worry… it'll wear off in about ten minutes. And I'm pretty sure I didn't mix up the needles; I only did that once."

"If you say so." Marcus replied, stepping away from the fallen Yoshi.

Managing to speak, Visali strained to force out, "Very well done… I suppose you've pointed out another weakness that I'll have to work on… once this goes away, let's get going, shall we?"

"Yes, let's." Marcus added. Looking up to the sky through a gap in the forest canopy above the path, he muttered, "It looks like it's going to rain… let's try and get inside before that happens, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't be so impatient." Manny muttered, sitting down to wait.

Marcus felt someone tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see Shiala, who clasped her hands and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Marcus…" she said in a soft voice, "Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

"Uh, sure…" He replied, and she took his hand, leading him away from the group until they were out of earshot…

**To be continued…**


	25. Chapter Twenty Four: Love And Lust

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 24 = Love and lust**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.  
  
Author's Note: **Final Reminder - There will be NO updates on the 4th or 11th of July, as I will be in Canada on holiday. However, on the 18th, there will be a triple update, and then updates will continue as normal.**_

"So… what is it that you want to talk to me about?"

They were standing between several trees, with the lush forest canopy above them making them appear slightly greener in the light coming through the thinner leaves. All around them the ground was littered with recently fallen leaves and seeds from the trees, and Shiala could see the others waiting for Visali to get back up just beyond a few more of the trees. She took off her backpack and laid it gently on the ground, where it remained upright, and she swallowed before speaking.

"Marcus… I…"

She fell silent for a moment, looking off to the side with her head dipped and her eyes half-closed, before looking back towards him and staring deep into his eyes.

"I know that you're sad from losing Alziana… and… I know that you probably don't feel like starting again, but… I… I think that I could help you."

"Help me? How?"

Shiala paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "I can… I think I can help you get over her. If you're happier, then you can move on easier, right?"

Marcus closed his eyes. "But… I don't want to forget…"

"I'm not saying that you should forget. I'm saying that you should cheer up and move on… but always keep a special place inside of you for her."

He smiled, and said, "That would be nice… but I don't know if I can move on… I mean, it was everything I ever wanted, and more, and… I'm sure that if it hadn't ended in the way it did, that I could have gotten over it…"

"Was it really that bad?"

Marcus nodded, keeping his eyes closed. "Yes… she was bleeding, but still alive… and she was in so much pain that it hurt me, too… I… thought I could save her, but her injuries were too severe… I always told her that I'd protect her, and I failed… I failed so miserably…"

Shiala put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, you couldn't have expected that. Besides, even if you were there, what could you have done? I'm sure that if she had had any chance of escaping, she would have taken it and tried to run, just on the off-chance that she could escape successfully…"

"Still… I wish I could have been there sooner… I never properly got the chance to say goodbye, it was over so quickly… she gave me my ring, but looking at it, I think she was saving it for something special…"

"Huh?"

Marcus held up his right hand to show her the ring. It was untarnished and the gems still were clear, the ornate wrought gold still in its original condition. "It's a very interesting ring… and given its value and the gems… I think it was more than just a gift… I think that there was more behind the gesture than it seems, but… whatever it was, I'll never know now…"

Silence fell over them, and Shiala stepped forward, putting her arms around Marcus and hugging him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder and narrowing her eyes at Manny, who was watching from a distance. He hesitated, but returned the gesture and held her close to him, gently putting his head on her shoulder, enjoying the touch of her chest against his and the feel of her hands on his back.

"Marcus…" she said, "I know that you like me… you try to hide it a little, but I can still tell that you like me… you really seem to enjoy sleeping next to me… and… I'm sure you've gathered that I…"

She paused for a moment, rewording what she had been about to say in her mind, before speaking aloud again. "I… really like you… and… I hate to see you like this, upset and distraught over the death of someone that you loved. I want to help in any way that I can to make you feel better, so if there's anything I can do… just ask."

"Thank you." Marcus replied, smiling broadly. "You're very sweet, and yes, I do like you… I'm happy that you want to help, but I don't know what you can do…"

Shiala smiled and broke away, walking over to stand by Marcus's side, before reaching up and gently stroking his fins on the back of his head, moving downwards after a moment, following the curve of his back down to the tip of his tail. She then put one hand on his leg and said, "You've got very strong legs, you know…" in a slightly seductive tone, remembering the tip that Manny had given her.

"Yes, well…" he said, scratching the back of his head, "I used to do a lot of running when I was younger to try and build them up… and it worked. I'm a pretty fast runner by Yoshi standards, but I'm pretty weak otherwise…"

"Aww, no you're not…" She contested. "You're still strong… after all, you helped bring down that dragon, didn't you?"

He grinned and turned to face her, saying, "Well… that was more luck than anything else…"

"You're too modest." She said, smiling back. "You may not like to admit it, but you're very nice, and pretty strong, and you're quite smart too…"

"Stop that." Marcus muttered, blushing and scratching the back of his head again. She continued, "You're a great guy, you know, you just have to try not to distance yourself from people who try to help…"

She stepped forward and hugged him again, and he hugged her back without any hesitation this time, closing his eyes and smiling as he put his head back on her shoulder blades. They broke off a few seconds later and stood facing each other, before Shiala edged forward and their noses touched, and they opened their eyes to meet each other's gazes. They continued looking into each other's red-outlined eyes for a moment, before Shiala took his hands and moved over to one side a little, before leaning forward and resting her head on his shoulder again. She began to nuzzle up against his head, gently rubbing it with the side of her nose and cheeks, and he gave a low, pleased hum as he began to return the affectionate gesture, releasing her hands to put them on the sides of her shoulder joints. She moved her hands down and placed them on his waist, just above his legs, moving away from him for a moment to stand nose-to-nose with him again.

They held each other's hands palm-to-palm, and started to rub noses, before moving their muzzles around each other's, sometimes stopping and going in the other direction, keeping contact as much as they could as they continued with the intimate act for a few more moments. Shiala stopped again and stared into his eyes one final time, letting go of his hands and putting her arms around him, before slowly closing her eyes and tipping her head to one side, and opening her mouth a little as she slowly leant forward.

Marcus also tilted his head, closing his eyes in expectation, moving his arms up and putting them around her waist as best he could. He, too, began to lean forward, his head swimming in a cloud of hormones, his heart beating at an incredible rate, and with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside of him as their lips made contact and they began to kiss.

Ignoring Manny's shout of "Score!" from behind Marcus, they tightened their grips suddenly and pulled themselves together, with Marcus's white chest rubbing against Shiala's tanned orange torso. The brown Yoshi took his mouth away to kiss her again and again, taking pleasure from the feel of her soft, moist lips, and moving his hands along the curve of her back, caressing her smooth skin as she kept a continuous kiss with him. She kept one hand on his back to hold him close to her, but put the other on the back of his head as she began to kiss him more passionately, before tentatively sending her tongue into his mouth. He eagerly tongued her back, sliding his tongue over hers like a snake over a tree branch, swathed in hormones and dizzy with exhilaration, letting her move her tongue around inside of his mouth as he did the same to hers, picking up a sweet taste as he did so and tightening his hold on her even further.

Afraid that he'd faint from the sudden rush of blood and hormones, Marcus pulled his tongue back and broke away from her, panting as he moved his hands to her shoulders, opening his eyes and meeting her gaze only to find her gasping for breath in front of him, clearly having enjoyed it as much as he did.

Manny's voice came floating over to them again, shouting, "Get a room next time, you two!", but they ignored him once more as they leant forward again to kiss a second time. Much faster this time, they locked lips and started to tongue kiss straight away, producing a variety of wet sounds as their Yoshish tongues touched and rubbed, going around the other to explore the other person's mouth. Oblivious to the world around them, the two of them continued for as long as they could before finally withdrawing their tongues and stepping away from each other.

Manny came running up to them, and put a firm hand on Marcus's shoulder as he spoke in old Yoshi. "Are you two quite done? Visali's not paralysed any more, and we're waiting for you to come back so we can move on into the mountain range."

He went back without waiting for a response, and Marcus sighed. "I suppose we should go back…" he muttered, "But… I… thank you."

"You're welcome." Shiala replied, picking up her backpack from where she had set it down. She clasped hands with him and walked side-by-side with Marcus as they headed back to the group, tagging along behind as they moved onwards and headed into the mountains.

**To be continued…**


	26. Chapter Twenty Five: Thunder And Storm

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 25 = Thunder and storm**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

Author's Note: Happy Canada Day! You get an early chapter now and only a double update on the 18th of July as I'm feeling generous. There will still be no updates on the 4th or 11th of July.

The mountain trail they were walking on took them through various hills and valleys, sometimes with no space on either side of the path, other times with rocky and grassless expanses of land on one or both sides of the well-used trail they were going across. Confidently walking past the various "Caution: Koopas" signs posted along the roads, and the sudden end of the trail of signs accompanied by a bloodstained Yoshi skeleton, the group of six trudged onwards along the winding mountain trail.

By about midday the clouds had completely blotted out the sun, and before long the rain began to come down in a light drizzle that was more annoying than anything else. Though the Yoshies periodically brushed the collecting moisture off of their skin, Dave, keeping at the front of the group, wrapped his cloak around him and muttered to himself about the weather. Visali, just behind him, could hear him grumbling, "Stupid weather… it's almost the end of Lazrin and it's bloody freezing… 39th of the month shouldn't be this damn cold, or wet…"

Visali rolled his eyes as he shook his head, moving onwards to keep up with his human friend's pace. Just behind him was the recently formed couple of Marcus and Shiala, walking side-by-side and holding each other's hands, not speaking much but occasionally looking over at each other as they walked onwards though the fine, misty rain. Manny and Xenly were bringing up the rear, with the former enlisting the help of the latter to keep up, hobbling along on his cast with one arm around the white assassin.

And so on it went, until the rain began to pick up as darkness covered them, and Visali decided to call it a day. After running up to Dave and asking him to stop, he turned his head back, and shouted, "I don't suppose any of you had the foresight to bring a tent along, did you?"

He was met with a various mutterings of negative responses, but once they came to a stop around him Shiala put down her soaking backpack and began to rummage around inside of it. Her hand got further and further down inside of it, before she shook her head with a resigned sigh and said, "No, I thought they might've given me one, but they didn't…"

She suddenly stopped talking and began to withdraw her hand from the bag, pulling something back up from the bottom. Eventually her hand came out and everyone saw what it was that she had; it was a fairly large dagger with an ornate handle, but the blade was made out of what looked suspiciously like a tooth. Cautiously running a finger along the edge, Shiala absent-mindedly said, "It looks like it's made from one of the dragon's fangs… I think they might be poisonous, but I'm not sure… it's pretty smooth… and sharp…"

She dropped it back into the backpack with a shrug, before picking it up and putting it back on her shoulders. Marcus took her hand again, and asked, "Since we don't have any tents, what are we going to do? Unless we can find a cave, this mountain trail doesn't have any trees or-"

A flash of lightning and a loud thunderclap suddenly cut him off, making Shiala jump. The rain picked up almost instantly and Dave began cursing again as Xenly thought to herself for a moment, eventually sighing and saying, "I guess we'll just have to keep going and hope that we find somewhere to take shelter…"

Somewhat grudgingly, the group began to move again, but it was only five minutes later when a bright flash illuminated a nearby cave in the rock face and Dave happily pointed it out to the others. He was just about to run towards it when Xenly shouted, "Wait!", and he stopped in his tracks, looking back over towards her.

"There could be Koopas in there," she reasoned, "So if there is anything there we should lure it out with a distraction of some sort… do any of you have anything that we could use to light the place up?"

There was silence for a moment, before Shiala gently prodded Marcus's arm and whispered, "What about that red watermelon?"

"Good point…" he replied, undoing the catches on the saddlebag holding the watermelon and taking it out. Holding it up, he stepped towards Xenly, who closed her eyes in thought for a moment before nodding and leading him towards the cave. Visali quickly threw his quadra spear to Manny, who was having trouble standing upright, and the blue Yoshi caught it before planting it in the ground and putting his weight on it as he, Visali, Shiala and Dave watched the two Yoshies walk towards the cave opening.

As they got close, Marcus and Xenly could hear faint sounds emanating from the cave, which became louder the closer they got. He identified it as the hissing, snarling and growling sounds the Koopa he had fought outside the feral village also made, and guessed it was the Koopa language or at least some form of communication that they used.

Judging from the tones they seemed excited about something, and the brown Yoshi guessed that there were about three or four of them hiding in there, but was unsure whether they were watching the entrance or not. Hoping against hope that the lightning wouldn't illuminate him in the mouth of the cave, he stepped away from Xenly with the now water-covered red watermelon in his hands, stood right in the cave opening, and took the watermelon into his mouth with a single slurp of his tongue.

Instantly, he felt his mouth become hotter as his saliva broke the watermelon down, before a sudden burst of heat almost made him spit it back out. Inhaling through his nose first, he opened his mouth to form an 'o', exhaling air in a stream from his lips.

Except it wasn't just air; a column of flame exuded from his mouth and illuminated the inside of the cave, showing five Koopas sitting on the floor, although the one nearest the cave entrance was soon caught up in the flames. The heat inside his mouth began to hurt Marcus and he coughed, spewing a fireball which hit another Koopa as they began to get up, before he finally couldn't bear it any longer and opened his mouth wide, spitting out a great fireball which enveloped the already injured second Koopa before smashing into the wall of the cave.

The three survivors were suddenly charging for them, and the two Yoshies quickly stepped back out of the cave and out to where visibility was slightly better. Another flash of lightning lit them all up for a moment, and Marcus noticed that two Koopas had gone for him while Xenly was fighting just one. Employing defensive tactics in the hope of gaining time and keeping his life, Marcus jumped and rolled away from the two Koopas, looking for an opening to attack one of them, but was unable to find one…

Suddenly, one of the Koopas turned in another direction before being impaled by two quadra spear blades; Visali had taken back his quadra spear from Manny and Dave had jumped onto his back, it seemed, as the two of them had just made a successful charge for the Koopa with both rider and steed holding a spear now embedded in the chest of a Koopa. During the few seconds he was distracted by this, the remaining Koopa made a swipe for Marcus and slashing open a small wound on his left arm, making the brown Yoshi cry out in surprise more than pain. He also heard Shiala give a cry as he leapt away, breaking into a run with the Koopa following him. Sparing a glance to his side while he ran, he noticed that Xenly appeared to be holding in remarkably well, but he also saw Shiala taking aim with her bow, aiming in his general direction. Spotting her release her arrow, he ducked instinctively, but by the time the arrow reached the position he had been in it was occupied by the Koopa, who fell to the ground as the arrow pierced its skull.

With three different enemies attacking it, the remaining Koopa didn't last long before being felled by a slash from Xenly, who cut its throat open with her left sword, cheered on by Dave and Visali. Remembering to grab the Koopa's shell, Marcus headed over to them as Shiala aided Manny's attempts to walk over to where they were.

"I think I can do without this, don't you?" Marcus heard Xenly say, as she used her unbloodied sword to remove the cast on her wrist. After throwing the split cast to one side, the six of them made their way into the shelter of the cave, with Dave and Visali carrying the other two Koopa shells, though in the darkness they couldn't quite determine their colour.

"You two make a good team." Manny said as they sat down inside the cave while Marcus quickly cleared out the two charred and burnt Koopas. With a grin, Visali replied, "Yeah, well, we've had a bit of practice… Yoshi riders used to be great fighters, long ago, and since me and Dave are friends, we figured we'd give it a shot and see how we did."

Chuckling, Dave added, "It took me a long time just to learn how to ride him without the spear. I think I fell off so many times I had grass stains on every inch of my clothing… it takes practice to stay on you guys when you really get going."

He shook his head like a dog, spraying water from his hair onto Visali, who quickly got out of the way while everyone else laughed. Marcus was just about to sit down next to Shiala when another flash of lightning lit up something small and shiny that Marcus saw out of the corner of his eye. It was near the back of the cave, and he walked over to investigate, his curiosity getting the better of him as he tried to peer through the darkness.

It was right here… I saw it a moment ago…

Bending down at his knees as he reached the spot where he had seen it, he put out his hands and began to search the floor for the shiny object, hoping another lightning flash would make it easier for him to see. Behind him, he heard another round of laughter as Dave shook the water off of his leather mantle, apparently further soaking Xenly, given the tone of the curses muttered back.

Another lightning strike lit the cave just long enough for Marcus to spot the thing he had been looking for, but not long enough for him to work out what it was. Taking his chance, he grabbed it, but it gave off a bright flash and he suddenly lapsed into unconsciousness…

**To be continued…**


	27. Chapter Twenty Six: The Goddess Of Luck ...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 26 = The Goddess of Luck and Fate**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

As the light faded, Marcus found himself standing, still holding the small object he had picked up, but once again in the strange place he had thrice met Sorsoy in; he was standing on a cold granite floor, illuminated in a little circle of light like a spotlight with no visible source. He heard a low chuckle from behind him and whirled around to find another Yoshi goddess, but it was not Sorsoy; the Yoshi was a dark purple and had fairly short eyelashes, also illuminated in a slightly larger circle of light. As well as red eye outlines, she had a tanned orange chest, and dark cream-coloured talons, all markings of a feral Yoshi. Like Sorsoy, she was hovering a few inches above the ground with her feet tipped back a bit, and in one hand she held a pair of dice carved from what appeared to be wood.

Racking his brains to try and remember who it was, he finally remembered what Manny had once told him, and identified the feral in front of him as Karshina, the Goddess of Luck and Fate. Holding up her hand, she held the dice in her palm and somehow made them levitate slightly, spinning slowly an inch or two above her hand and casting small shadows on her palm.

"Marcus." She said, speaking in Yoshian, "As you may well be aware, I am the Goddess of Luck and Fate, whether you are a follower of the octotheist religion or not." Octotheist, Marcus recalled, literally meant eight gods, just like monotheist meant one god and polytheist meant many gods. "Take a look at what you have found…"

Holding up his right hand, he found that he had picked up a small, golden octagram with empty spaces at the points. The gold was shiny and fairly pure, but not so pure that it was still soft and malleable in his hands, and as he watched Marcus could swear he saw it glinting, even though his hands were not moving. There were so many connecting lines between all the points that Marcus couldn't hope to count all of them without a leaf of vaell and a writing knife, and the empty spaces looked like they were meant to hold something in them.

"You are very lucky to find one of these, Marcus… so you have me to thank for that. I cannot tell you everything about it, for you must work it out yourself, but I'm sure it's within your capabilities to figure out what it is…"

"Wait, why are you doing this to me?" Marcus asked.

"Pardon?"

"This is the second time one of you has come into my mind… and I'm still an atheist, so why do you bother? I mean, I could just be imagining this, and that's what I believe, but even if you are real, why would you pick me, of all people, to torment and play games with?"

Karshina smirked and gave another low chuckle, before replying, "You think we are playing games with you? You are naïve… even more naïve not to believe in us when the proof is right in front of you. You also forget, Marcus, that Miyala and the God of Death can both predict the future quite accurately…"

"So? I don't intend to do anything incredible if and when I get older… all I want to do is just achieve vengeance for what has been done to me, and then settle down somewhere to a quiet life with Manny and Shiala and any other friends we make."

"Have you ever put any consideration into this? Foryo is a powerful wizard… there are more powerful ones, yes, but he is still adept at the magical arts… but he is still influential, and if you were to kill him, it could change a lot of things, you know."

"So what, are you saying I should just forget the whole thing ever happened? No way! I would rather die than let him get away with what he did! He destroyed an entire village full of Yoshies, some my friends, some my relatives, one my beloved girlfriend."

"And why do you think he did that?"

"He's a maniac! He's a human! Humans don't like Yoshies, so he probably levelled it for sport or just to be malicious…"

"No, no, think about it. If that was it, why would he have destroyed the houses just to make sure everyone and everything was dead? He was after someone… who did you know who wasn't from that village?"

"Well…" Marcus said, counting people off on his fingers, "Manny's relatives, the Sennets, and A-…Alziana's family, the Leyiras, were from there… Karin's family, the Sonnas, weren't… there were a couple others who weren't…"

"The Charris's weren't."

"I never heard of them… but then again there were a few people there I never met…"

Karshina gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Your family wasn't."

"My father wasn't, but my mother was. They told me about that… my father was from Lince city, and had a brother who died from a prematurely weakened immune system… when that happened, he went to the Shoreside village. But that's not really important, is it?"

"Everything is important in its own little way…" Karshina said mystically.

"Stop being vague and give me a definite answer." Marcus snapped.

"Pushy, aren't we? Remember who you're messing with, here. Besides, it spoils all my fun if I can't confuse the unbelievers… consider yourself for a moment."

"What? Are you talking about my eyes?"

"Yes, well done. Who's the only family member you haven't got any record of?"

"What does this have to do with Foryo?"

"More than you think. Much as you might like to think otherwise, Foryo's not the end, either…"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You will find out, Marcus, I guarantee you that much…"

Her voice began to fade, as did Marcus's body and hers, and he blacked out again, coming back to consciousness a moment later with somebody shaking him.

"Marcus… come on… wake up…"

Suddenly weary and tired, Marcus groaned as he forced himself to open his eyes, catching sight of Shiala kneeling over him as he lay on his back. She gave a broad smile as she saw his eyes open, and helped him up to a sitting position, from which he could see her backpack lying on the floor over near the others.

"What happened?" Marcus mumbled, and Shiala pulled him into a tight hug.

She replied, "There was this flash… I thought it was the lightning at first but then realised it had come from behind me… and you were just lying there on your side… you didn't even have a pulse but I was sure that you were still alive… I thought for a moment that…"

"It's okay…" he muttered, hugging her back with one arm. "How long was I out for?"

"Not very long… about five minutes… I was starting to give up hope…"

Silence fell over the two for a moment, until Marcus held up the octagram with his free hand and noticed something different, muttering, "Huh?" absent-mindedly. He could see that in two adjacent holes there were now gems; he couldn't quite work out what type they were, but one of them was a bright, sky blue, and the other was a pure, dark purple. Shiala let go of him and spotted the octagram as she leant back, putting one hand on it first and waiting for Marcus to nod before taking it out of his grip.

"Marcus… where did you get this?"

"I found it just before I blacked out." He replied truthfully. "I could see it shining when the lightning flashed, and I went to pick it up. When I did, though, I lost consciousness, and-…"

"What happened? Did you see anything?"

"No." Marcus lied, spotting Manny listening in on their conversation over Shiala's shoulder. "It was dark… and cold… I was all alone there, and I wondered if I'd ever see you again…"

She smiled, but as Manny looked away in disgust Marcus quickly dropped his voice to a whisper. "Actually, that's not the whole truth, but I'll tell you when nobody else is likely to overhear, okay?"

After a moment, Shiala nodded, handing the octagram back to him. She stood up, and Marcus got up off the floor, putting the octagram in a saddlebag for safekeeping, before the two of them went and walked over to where the others were sitting.

"…that reminds me," Dave said, continuing a conversation they'd been left out of, "How come there are so many of you Yoshies? I mean, looking at you, I can't even see how you make more Yosh-"

"Stop right there." Visali commanded.

"But…"

"No, Dave, don't touch that conversation with a ten-foot pole. I'm serious. You don't want to know. You won't find us cute any more."

There was some mirth among the other Yoshies, and Dave muttered "Fine, fine… well, I still don't quite get it. I mean, you Yoshies lay an egg rather painlessly and it hatches after two weeks, with the Yoshi already able to walk or at least crawl, and you live for hundreds of years…"

Manny nodded and replied, "And yet, human women have to carry a baby around inside them for months and months, go through hours of agony to get it out, then it takes twelve years for the child to be much use to anyone, they can't even move for the first few months of their life, and live for less than a hundred years!"

"It just doesn't make any sense." Dave concurred. "You'd think that the one with the longer gestation time would be the smarter one, but I guess not…"

Visali interjected, "Hey, think about whales; they're freaking huge and gestate for… Miyala only knows how long, and they're not smarter than us."

"Good point." Dave said, nodding in agreement. "I suppose it's all down to evolution… Yoshies were around before humans were, I think, but…"

"Hey," Visali said suddenly, cutting in and pointing at Marcus, "You're bleeding." Letting go of Shiala to gently touch his arm in the dark, Marcus felt a stab of pain as he ran his fingers over a wound; the slash the Koopa had dealt to him was oozing blood, but not at a serious rate. He was prepared to let it go, but Shiala got up and moved around him, sitting down on his left, gently taking his arm and holding it in her gentle grip. She gave it a few gentle licks, soothing the stinging sensation that first came from her touch, cleaning the wound for him and making him relax a little. Although his eyes had adjusted to the dark, Marcus found it very hard to tell the other Yoshies apart just by looking at them, except for Xenly, whose white colour was distinguishable even in the darkness.

Visali stretched out before yawning and lying on his side, with Dave following suit soon after. Marcus felt like lying down to sleep, too, but Shiala reached into her backpack and pulled out a green watermelon, handing it to him and whispering, "You should eat something… it ought to make you feel a bit better."

Slurping up the melon with one flick of his tongue, Marcus savoured the taste for a moment before thanking her as she gave a bit of food to the others, shaking Visali and Dave from the edges of slumber to give them a little food to eat, which they took and ate graciously. After that, everyone except Marcus and Shiala stretched out to go to sleep, but Shiala seemed rather insistent that Marcus stay awake, shaking him every time he started to doze off. Eventually, slightly annoyed, he whispered, "What?" irritably.

"I don't think they're listening… care to tell me about the octagram?"

Marcus quickly told her about his vision, and what Karshina had said, also mentioning that Sorsoy had spoken to him previously and made him appear dead to his companions. She took the octagram from him again to look at it in the darkness, running her fingers over the two gems, before handing it back to him.

"Well?" he asked, and she was hesitant to reply.

"Marcus… it…" she sighed and started again. "The octagram is a holy sign of the Octotheist Religion… and these… ones made with holes in them… they're very hard to come by, you know. If someone finds one, they… they've been chosen by the gods to… to do something important… the last person who found one of those became a great and powerful lord who led the Yoshian army against Kl-… the God of Death, and killed him with his own hands… and those two gems… you've seen two gods already… if you see the other six… well, who knows what will happen…"

"Wait a moment," Marcus said, "If Klashkna wasn't a god at the time, why was it still an octagram?"

"The eighth god was undecided then… it was foretold there'd be eight, though, but Miyala and the oracles. But the God of Death became immortal, and all immortals become gods… they say that one day, another Yoshi will defeat the God of Death himself, obtain immortality and become the true eighth god… according to legends, a Yoshi called Sévar will be that true god."

Marcus gave a shrug as he took the octagram back. "Well, thanks for letting me know all that… I don't know if I'll need to know it, but thanks anyway."

Shiala nodded and gave a loud yawn, before putting her arms around Marcus as they lay down together to go to sleep. Even though he was lying on a cold stone floor, Shiala's touch brought Marcus comfort and he fell asleep shortly thereafter, with the various riddling things Karshina had said floating through his mind…

_You are naïve… even more naïve not to believe in us when the proof is right in front of you…_

_Everything is important in its own little way…_

_Foryo's not the end, either…_

Marcus gave a quiet little snort of indignation. _Stupid hallucinations…_ he thought to himself as he fell asleep, _just figments of my imagination…_

**To be continued…**


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven: Dredging The Memor...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 27 = Dredging the memory canal**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

When Visali awoke from a dreamless sleep and looked around, he found that all of his companions were sleeping, except for Marcus and Shiala, who weren't anywhere to be seen. Stretching as he got up and got his things together, he also noticed that one of the Koopa shells they had taken the previous night were both gone, along with the lover Yoshies. Looking outside, he saw that the sun was shining, though the ground was still wet from the heavy rainfall the previous day, indicating it had carried on long after he had fallen asleep.

He set off after them without waking his companions, carrying his quadra spear only as a precaution against any wild animals or other Koopas. It wasn't too hard for him to find his quarry; Marcus and Shiala had obviously made no effort to cover the tracks his shoes and her feet left in the wet ground.

Following the tracks at a quick pace, he ended up a good distance away, with the cave still within eyesight before he suddenly found the track turning into a gap between two mountains. Going along the path that was there, he could hear the faint sound of running water, which became slowly clearer and louder as he continued, until he found the source of the sound.

There was a river running along at a good pace, meandering down the mountain and out of sight. At the riverbank were the two Yoshies, but they were clearly uninterested in the river itself and only wanted the privacy; Marcus was lying on top of Shiala and their lips were locked firmly together as they kissed, oblivious to all that was around them. Shiala's jewellery was sparkling in the sunlight and the light shone off their skin, making bright white patches of reflection at various points on the surfaces of their bodies.

Visali ducked down behind some reeds and parted them a bit to watch a little less conspicuously, keeping his eyes on the pair as their arms slid over each other's backs. After a time, they suddenly rolled over away from the riverbed with Shiala ending up on top, and Marcus broke away slowly before returning a broad smile she gave him.

He tried to get back on top but she held him firmly to the ground as he struggled against her grip. Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, Marcus said, "You're far too strong for me… how did you become so powerful?"

Shiala let go with one arm to flex a muscle that, Visali noticed, was considerably bigger than the ones on Marcus's arms. "Even feral females have to be strong to protect themselves, you know. Nobody can afford to be weak in such a small community."

"Regardless," Marcus replied as he struggled against her other arm, "You're a lot stronger than I am, so knock it off and let me go…"

Pinning Marcus down again, she gave a high laugh and grinned. "Make me!" she exclaimed happily, continuing to keep Marcus firmly to the ground.

"If you insist!" he shouted back, before bringing up his hands against her chest and tickling her. She gave a shriek and brought her hands up, allowing Marcus to push against her underside with his feet and fling her off of him forcefully. She hit the ground a short distance away and rolled on her side, still laughing as Marcus ran up to her and pinned her down as best he could, trying to tickle her again until she rolled him over and pinned him once more. Kicking out with his feet again, he knocked her away and she landed in the river with a splash, surfacing a couple of feet away as the moderate current swept her along while she swam against it. Marcus ran along beside the riverbed towards her, apologising as he ran, but as soon as he was close enough she whipped her tongue at him and wrapped it around his ankle, pulling him over into the river with an even larger splash. He surfaced and they both grabbed onto the riverbank, pulling themselves out of the water and back up onto comparatively dry land.

They walked back to where they were before, with their arms around each other as Marcus apologised and Shiala jokingly made it out to be worse than in was.

"You've gotten me all wet!" she complained he gave her a hug.

Apologetically, Marcus replied, "I didn't mean to throw you in the river…"

She then muttered something inaudible to Visali, but judging by Marcus's reply, (a nervous laugh while he scratched the back of his head,) he didn't particularly think he wanted to.

Looking over to his right while the two Yoshies kissed, he spotted one of the three salvaged Koopa shells shining in the light, a bright, reflective blue. He was startled as Marcus's tongue suddenly grabbed it and pulled it out of sight, but when he looked back over Visali could see that Marcus had it in his mouth. After a few moments, Visali could see small bulges form on his back, just behind his shoulders, before large, feathery wings burst out, sending stray feathers every which way. Marcus gave muffled curses of pain for a moment before he began to take a run-up, leaping into the air with his cheeks bulging while Shiala watched in awe.

Marcus gracefully flew up high and circled over, giving a muffled cry and pointing downwards. Visali's eyes widened as he realised that Marcus was pointing at him, and he made a break for it as Shiala began to walk towards him. Shiala gave chase but couldn't quite catch up to him, at least until Visali skidded on the soft mud and slipped, falling over backwards and leaving a long skid mark in the dirt.

Shiala's talons dug into the mud and she had no problem catching him as he tried to get back up, tackling him to the ground and pinning him there on his front. He struggled in vain against her grip until Marcus arrived, landing with a loud _thud_ and swallowing the Koopa shell. The wings, no longer sustained by the shell, began to fold in on themselves before shrivelling and falling off of Marcus's back.

"Uhm… nice flying?" Visali said, trying to break the silence.

"How long were you watching us?" Marcus inquired.

"Well," came the reply, "I only first saw you two just before you got pinned by a girl."

"Ha, ha, ha." Marcus spat. "You're pinned by a girl, too, in case you hadn't noticed. Can't we get any privacy anywhere?"

"Sorry, sorry." Visali muttered. "I wasn't intending to spy on you, I was just trying to find out where you had gone to. Can I go now?"

Grudgingly, Shiala got up and off of him, and they headed back to the cave as a three. Along the way, Marcus nudged Visali and asked, "Do you know how those wings work?"

"You don't know?" The red-orange Yoshi replied, and Marcus shook his head. "Well, it's actually pretty simple in itself, just hard to work out. The wings themselves don't have any bones; they're just cartilage with feathers on them. We, that is to say, the University I'm from, found that when a blue Koopa shell is broken down, it releases a lot of useful chemicals and lots of energy, as well as a hormone that instructs the Yoshi's body to convert those substances into the feathers and extra cartilage. It's an exponential occurrence, which is why you get those little bulges swelling slowly then suddenly bursting out like that. We haven't been able to find out why the wings drop off, but we think it's something to do with the hormone from the shell."

Marcus nodded, falling silent again as he took Shiala's hand and walked.

"Heh, you know," Visali said quietly, "You remind me of my parents a little… well, my father anyway…"

"How so?" Marcus asked.

"Well, the way you look into Shiala's eyes, and way you talk to each other and act, as well as the way you… uh… hold each other when you're kissing…"

He fell silent suddenly, lost in a memory as they kept walking…

_"Visali, have you seen your father?"_

_The fifteen-year-old Visali looked up from the book he was reading to speak to his mother, a green Yoshi about twenty-six or so. His father, who wasn't in the room, was greyish and looked a lot younger than he actually was, and had gotten into the habit of telling people he was twenty-two even though he was really twenty-seven._

_"No, mom, I haven't seen him since lunch…"_

_"Strange. Someone came to the door earlier and I think he's with them right now, but I can't find him anywhere here… would you go look in the east wing for me while I check around here again, in case they moved? I know you're not meant to go in there, but this is important."_

_Visali put a bookmark in the book and put it on a nearby table, before straightening his saddle and strolling out the door. His mother watched him as he left; his skin was a bright, vibrant orange tone that she liked so much she'd had one of her rooms redecorated in a colour almost matching it._

_Going through one of the double-doors to the eastern wing of his father's house, Visali immediately heard voices and headed for them, shivering a little as he went. It was very cold in the corridors of his father's house; he lived in the city of Dhalsa, where snow or at the very least frost covered the ground all year round. Most of the rooms had fireplaces but the halls did not, making rooms and corridors alternate between pleasant warmth and sudden cold._

_He easily identified one of the voices as being his father's, but he didn't recognise the second one. It was feminine and fairly deep, a voice Visali knew didn't belong to either of the female housekeepers, a fact that puzzled him for a moment._

_Eventually he found the room the voices were coming from, and pressed his head against the door to listen, taking it away as he noticed it was already ajar. Yes, that was his father… but who was the woman? He had to find out…_

_Pushing the door open just a little bit further and peeking through the gap, he looked inside and saw who it was; standing opposite his father was a pure white Yoshi with long eyelashes, a saddle, and white boots. Visali also noticed that she had a set of swords strapped to her back, and bulging saddlebags strapped firmly to her saddle, hiding the colour of the saddle itself. On each of her sword scabbards he could just make out a symbol that looked like a cross with a dot in each of the gaps._

_Then, Visali's heart sank as he saw them stop talking and embrace each other, pulling together for a kiss, rubbing their arms across each other's backs as they did so. With a low sigh, he stepped away from the door and sank to the floor against the wall next to it._

_"Why?" He said softly to himself. "I thought my parents loved each other… I mean, I've heard them arguing, sure, but I never thought that he would actually ever cheat on her…"_

_He sighed again and held his head in his hands. What was he going to do? His family had always been pretty stable… or had it? How long had his father been with this woman? Had he been with others before?_

_He had to tell his mother… it was the only way…_

_Then, the door opened, and both his father and his companion walked out, spotting Visali almost instantly. His father gave him a stern look and scolded him, "Visali, haven't I told you before not to come here?"_

_"Yes, but I understand why now…"_

_"Hmm?"_

_Visali pointed an accusing finger at the female Yoshi. "Her!" he shouted. "You've been going out with her all this time…"_

_"You saw us…?"_

_Visali nodded. "I thought you loved my mother…"_

_"Son, it's not what it seems…"_

_"Oh, isn't it?" the orange Yoshi roared, enraged. "I'll bet it's more! Are you going to divorce my mother? Get married to… to whoever this is? I'm going to tell mom!"_

_"Wait." The white Yoshi said. Turning for a moment to Visali's father, she put a hand on his arm and said, "Vick, let me handle this…"_

_"I don't want to hear anything from either of you!" Visali shouted, running out the door and back the way he had come._

_"Stay here, Xenly… this is something that I have to sort out with my family. I'm sorry." Vick muttered, before running after his son. "Visali, come back!"_

__

_"…and then I came to tell you."_

_Visali's mother nodded, her fists clenched. She was clearly angry with her husband and as soon as he came through the door she grabbed him and held him up against the nearest wall, gripping folds of flesh on his chest._

_Visali didn't make note of what she was saying; all he knew was that it was very loud and he probably didn't want to hear it anyway. He couldn't take it much more and pleaded with them to stop arguing, but his mother paid him no heed._

_Eventually, she dropped her husband to the floor, and he scrambled away from her. He got to his feet just as the door opened and the white Yoshi came in, her swords drawn, but with a concerned look on her face as she stepped into the room and started explaining after a second or two of silence._

_Visali was grateful to her for a moment, as his mother stopped shouting long enough to hear what she had to say, before turning and yelling at her husband again, and Visali ran out of the room, upset almost to the point of tears._

_Just before he closed the door, he heard her shout, "It's either me and your son, or her! Now choose!"_

_Sniffling, Visali ran off to his room and curled up on the bed to try and sleep._

__

_When he awoke again, it was eerily quiet inside the house. Somewhat groggily, he made his way back to the master bedroom and listened for voices._

_Silence._

_Pushing the door open, he called out, "Mom? Dad?"_

_Nothing._

_Then, he saw them…_

_His father was lying on the floor on his back with a needle of some kind embedded in his nose, his eyes closed and his mouth half-open. Next to him was Visali's mother, also lying on her back with a deep cut on her neck soaked in blood, and some red markings on her chest…_

_He knew in his heart they were both dead, but he walked towards his mother to look at her chest… though as soon as he stood over her, he saw what had been painted on her chest in her own blood; a cross, with four dots, one in each gap…_

_That person his father had been with was an assassin…_

_And had killed his parents…_

_"I have to flee!" he said to himself. "She'll come back for me… but one day, I'll find her… and I'll kill her with my bare hands… no, wait, I'll create a new weapon to kill her with… that's it… and I won't rest until I have taken her last breathe away from her… this, I vow, in the names of all the Yoshi gods…"_

_Pausing for a moment to recite a prayer for each of his parents, he loaded up his saddlebags with the money he found in their room, before running out into the streets of Dhalsa and away from his home, his family, his life…_

"Are you okay? You've gone awfully quiet…"

"Yeah, yeah…" Visali replied, still half-in, half-out of his daydream. "I'm fine… just caught up in memories, that's all…"

A few minutes later, they met up with the others and headed back in the direction the three Yoshies had just come from, continuing on through the hills and mountains as the sun rose higher in the sky…

**To be continued…**


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight: Beneath The StarLi...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 28 = Beneath the star-lit sky**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

The second day in the mountains progressed much like the first, though a little more cheerfully than the previous day had been. Visali and Dave were in the front, talking to each other about the University and other ways to improve their quadra spears; Shiala and Marcus were walking hand-in-hand behind them talking to each other in low tones, but laughing every so often; and Xenly helped Manny hobble along on his cast as they brought up the rear.

The bright sunlight prevailed for the rest of the day, beating down in between the hills and mountains to reach the travellers as they followed the mountain trail up and down and around the hills. There was hardly any vegetation around them growing in the rocky landscape, maybe the odd patch of grass and weeds, but no trees or bushes.

They only had a single encounter with a Koopa, which ran when it saw five armed Yoshies and an armed human bearing down on it. They could hear it snarling to itself as they passed by a large boulder, and Xenly kept checking behind her until they couldn't hear it any longer. When the sun started to sink down and the sky became an expanse of reddish shades, Visali called them to a stop to take the first rest they'd had that day; they'd even had their meals while still walking. Shiala's backpack had originally had enough supplies for only four Yoshies, and as they were supporting a human and a fifth Yoshi, they were having to stretch the food a bit thin and try to ignore the pangs of hunger.

"We'll keep going once it's dark." Visali said to them as they sat down in a rough circle. "It looks like it's going to be clear, so we can go by the light of the stars… and the lunar cycle's starting again, so if you're lucky you may just be able to see the larger moon if there's a gap in the mountain peaks."

"How far are we from the next city?" Shiala asked, rubbing the soles of her feet as she sat next to Marcus.

Dave looked around for a moment before saying, "We've come pretty far… we ought to reach Corvan some time tomorrow afternoon. We'd get there sooner if we didn't have to walk at Manny's pace, but at least you get to take the scenery in."

"It's not _my_ fault." Manny muttered. "I didn't _want_ to get my leg broken, you know. I want to get this checked out as soon as we arrive."

"No need." Visali replied. "We can take you to the university and get some of the magi-medicine students to look at you. They're mostly girls, so it won't be too bad, right?"

The blue Yoshi gave a chuckle and retorted, "I'm sure if I say that Visali sent me, they'll give me some special treatment, eh?"

"Ah, you've got me there, Manny. One of them's my girlfriend, so you'll be guaranteed to get some kind of a response if you say that."

"You have a girlfriend?" Marcus asked, looking away from Shiala for a moment.

"Yep!" Visali replied, beaming. "Dark pink Yoshi with the longest eyelashes you'll ever see. But be warned; get on her bad side and you may or may not live to regret it… that temper of hers ought to be kept on a ball and chain."

"I second that." Dave said glumly. "Last time I ticked her off I had the rest of her class looking after me for a week while the wound healed. She knows some pretty nasty magic considering she's a magi-medic in training!"

"I think she said something about self-defence." His Yoshi friend recalled. "Or too much free time and too much library access. One of those. Or both. Sweet girl though, until the flames light up behind her eyes."

Silence fell for a moment, before Xenly flopped down on the ground, lying on her back with her legs crossed as best she could. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted… probably from holding up this cripple for most of the day." She said weakly, nudging Manny's leg with her elbow.

"Hey, I'm not crippled, but if you keep poking that cast then you soon will be."

"Bring it on, bucko, I could beat you using just my tongue and a rusty spoon. Go on, give me your best shot."

"I'm serious…"

Xenly shot him a quick grin, before deliberately prodding his cast and making him wince. "I'm warning you…" he began, but she did it again, and he made a swipe for her.

Suddenly, her arms became a blur of motion; and the next thing Manny knew, his arm was being forced back painfully, with Xenly holding it just using two fingers on her left hand.

While he tried again and again to get a good hit on her, much to the amusement of Dave and Visali, Marcus and his feral companion left most of their things and snuck away a short distance and lay on their backs together beneath the stars.

Shiala sighed and said, "I don't like being with them… you keep talking in your language and I can't understand what you're saying."

"Well," Marcus replied, "I can always try to teach you… if you ever want to live in the city, you're going to need to know the common tongue."

"We'll see… where are you going, anyways?"

"Didn't we tell you?"

She shook her head, and Marcus gave a sigh as he stared up to the stars. "Remember I told you about Alziana? Whoever killed her took out my entire village, too, and my family and friends… except Manny and me. And Karin, but you never met her… but we're going to find the person who did that, and we're going to kill him."

"Vengeance?"

"Essentially. We don't know how far we are, whether we'll make it, or what… we just keep going, hoping that we'll win in the end…"

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, and felt Shiala clasp hands with him. "What will you do after you've done that?"

"Settle down somewhere… I hope… just live a normal, quiet life with Manny…"

"What about me?"

Marcus opened his eyes and tilted his head to look at her. "I thought you were going back to the ferals."

"I might… but would you like to come with me?"

With a smile, Marcus rolled onto his side and softly stroked her fins. "I would love to. Do ferals get married?"

"No," Shiala said with a shake of her head, "They don't… because there are so few ferals in any given community, anybody can go with anyone… having lots of different pairings gives lots of different children… occasionally, you'll get a family being raised as one, but neither parent stays completely loyal to their partner. It's just the way it is, and it's something we do to survive… if there were more of us, we could afford to marry and keep families to themselves, but small feral communities that do that die out."

Solemnly, Marcus muttered, "I don't really like the idea of you going off with other males, even if it's not serious…"

"Well, usually, you get a mating, and the child, and one parent will take the Yoshi egg and they'll go their separate ways. Sometimes, if you have lovers, they'll raise the family together, but otherwise… it's just survival instincts, you know? Something within us that's there since we hatch… things we do without thinking about… you just want to have a child with the biggest and strongest members of the opposite gender, to have big and strong children to keep the community going."

"I know, and if I was a feral, I would agree, but I'm not… and I want you to be mine and only mine…"

"I understand." She said softly with a sigh, as they both sat up to look into each other's eyes. After a moment, she ran her hands down his chest, over the chain of the elven necklace, and across the bandage around him. She rubbed it gently and Marcus didn't react to it, so she leant forward and began unwrapping it, eventually revealing a light scar on his chest over his left ribcage. Marcus smiled and nodded in thanks, taking the bandage and crumpling it up before throwing it over his shoulder; it was made out of some kind of plant fibre that would be broken down over time.

Shiala then took the rune on the necklace chain in her right hand and looked at it. Marcus noticed that it wasn't even so much as sparkling; the metallic silver was reflecting her image but it didn't have even the slightest hint of a blue tint to it. After she let it fall back to his chest, they both lay down to look up to the star-studded sky, and after a time Marcus spoke. "I wonder if there's anyone else out there."

"Hm?"

"Look up to the sky…" Marcus murmured, waving his hand up to the vastness of space. "There are millions and millions of stars… each one could have planets around it, and each planet might contain intelligent life. It's a very small chance, but that chance has millions of opportunities to occur. There could be a planet that only had Yoshies on it, or only humans or whatever…"

"You know what would be weird?"

"What?"

"If there was another planet out there with life on it, and they were also looking into the sky right now and wondering if they were alone in the universe or not."

Marcus gave a chuckle. "You're right, that would be weird…"

Then, Visali's voice came over to them. "Hey, you two! As soon as we've disentangled Manny here, we're leaving, so get your stuff together!"

Sitting up, Marcus saw that Xenly had Manny in a very painful position involving one of her knees up against his back, and his arms and uninjured leg behind him. Shiala sat up next to him and laughed as Manny struggled to get free from the white Yoshi's hold, before she put an arm around Marcus.

"If I ever learn how to do that, you'd better watch what you say to me, or you could be in for a very rough night."

"Aw, you'd never do that to me, would you?" He replied lightly, leaning forward and touching noses with her. "After all, if you injure me, I might not be the biggest and strongest any more…"

She giggled and countered, "Well then, I'm sure Manny would have someone to make him feel warm and fuzzy, hm?"

"That's not funny." Marcus murmured.

"Aww, did I touch a nerve?" she said sarcastically. "I'll make it up to you, don't worry…"

She gave him a gentle kiss on the nose, and after smiling for a moment he began to lean towards her, kissing her passionately in the starlight. As he took his lips away from her, he heard her very faintly whisper to him, "Marcus, I love you."

He did not respond at first, kissing her again as thoughts raced through his head. He remembered Alziana and him splitting an orihalca gem, supposedly declaring their love to each other for as long as they lived…

_But that time is over, as one is dead and the other is not._

As he broke away, in an equally low tone, he said in a soft voice to her, "Shiala… I love you, too."

One final time, they embraced and held each other tightly, putting everything else out of their minds as they almost drowned in the hormone rush, their skin rubbing, their tongues slithering around their mouths, immersed in a sense of tranquillity just for a few, precious, intimate moments together…

But, just as Marcus was about to break away, everything seemed to slow down, bit by bit, until he found he couldn't move at all, just think… and then, his consciousness slipped away from him once more. Suddenly, he somehow landed hard on his front on the cold, granite floor of the strange place he was getting used to finding himself in, usually accompanied by one of the Yoshi gods…

**_To be continued…_**


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine: The God of Love and...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 29 = The God of Love and Compassion**

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

"This is really starting to get on my nerves." Marcus called out as his vision went white for a moment. "Just say what you have to and get out of my head."

"I don't wish to harm you." A calm, male voice said from behind him. "I am merely doing as I must to maintain the state of the world…"

"Do it to someone else." Marcus snapped as his vision returned, and he found himself once again in the source-less spotlight. "I've had enough of illusions and hallucinations… and besides, I just saw one of you!"

"You will see us whenever your mind or your emotions are most attuned to a particular god or goddess." Said the voice. "For instance, when you were full of hope at the start of your journey, the goddess of hope, Sorsoy, came to you. And when you found yourself to be in good fortune, the goddess of luck, Karshina, presented herself to you. And now that you are feeling strong emotions, those feelings called 'love', you are met by me… the god of love, Vizorvy."

With a resigned sigh, Marcus got up off his front, turned around, and looked upwards. Again, the deity was hovering just above the floor and also illuminated in a circle of light, and this one was a black Yoshi with pink fins, a little darker than the tone of Alziana's skin had been. Aside from that, he had no distinct markings, though he was smiling serenely as his wide, bright eyes gazed down upon him.

"A god of love," Marcus muttered, "That has got to be the lamest thing I have ever heard of in my entire life."

Vizorvy's smile didn't even flicker. "Things that are lame and are not are merely held in one's perspective, you know. What is lame to one person may not be to another…"

Marcus rolled his red-outlined eyes and sat down with another sigh. "Just get it over and done with. What have you got to say for yourself?"

The black-skinned god held his hands out to his sides, and on either side, semi-transparent, flickering images of Alziana and Shiala, on Vizorvy's left and right respectively, faded in to view and remained still.

"You, Marcus, have felt love twice in your life, and unlike what your friend Manny may call love, it is true love from your heart. Rather than just lusting for a person's physical aspects, you desire and respect their personality, too, as well as their character and the way that they are. If they have minor faults, you ignore them and instead concentrate on the people themselves. Not many people feel true love nowadays, but you… it burns in your heart at times, a roaring flame that takes a lot to extinguish. Even now, though you find yourself in the arms of another who you love, you still retain small, almost insignificant feelings for your previous love…"

"Your point being?" Marcus asked as the images flickered out.

"You, Marcus, are a man of strong emotions… not just the feelings you give and hold for others, but all of your emotions and feelings are very powerful and hard to sway. However, this could well be your downfall… remember that as your feelings swing and sway, you will meet with the other deities. If you maintain a pure heart full of hope, courage, and strength, you will survive, but if you let your negative feelings take over… if you consider the dark side, the evil powers, just for one moment, the God of Death will capitalise on that one moment and take control of you, manipulating you as a pawn in his plans…"

Marcus's memories cast themselves back to what Sorsoy had shown him; his possible future self, scarred and maybe mutated, different to what he was now, yet bigger, stronger, powerful… bursting with raw power that he could use for whatever he wished…

"Stop!" Vizorvy commanded. "You are doing it now! You must never turn to evil, you hear me? Never! It is vital that you keep hold of your own mind, and look to happiness no matter how bad the situation may become. You will face a mighty test very soon, and you must keep your head throughout it… if you don't, you will be lost to the forces of darkness and you… nay, possibly the entire world, will be doomed as a result!"

"Wait, what? Why would I be the balance of the world like that? Why is it me that's the hand that could push Chyrus into oblivion or pull it back? Why me, and not someone else, someone who believes in you for a start? Why me more than Manny, why me more than somebody more powerful, like Fory…"

Marcus's voice trailed off as something began to sink in. What Karshina had said… by killing Foryo, would he upset some kind of delicate balance that held the world in place? Would he start off some chain of events leading to the world's demise? He remembered the baron of Lince city saying something about Foryo looking for him, too, and coupled it with what Karshina had said about Foryo having a reason for destroying his home… what was going on?

"Promise me," Vizorvy said, "that you will try your hardest not to let the God of Death overcome you. Promise me that."

"I can't make that promise." Marcus replied. "I have no idea what is up ahead, nor what will happen, and I cannot make a guarantee…"

"I am asking you to promise that you will try. Can you do that?"

"I can try. That is all I will promise."

"That is all that I ask." Vizorvy sighed. "Now go… go back, and remember what I told you…"

Marcus's sight whited out again, and he felt himself flying upwards, suddenly coming back and finding himself looking down… he saw himself in the third person, lying motionless on the floor while Shiala tightly gripped his body and cried. Holding out his hand, Marcus saw that his skin was a ghostly, pale grey, and he knelt down by Shiala and his corporeal body, before placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to him but from her reaction he could tell that she couldn't see her, and when she looked back to his body he reached out to it, making contact just as he saw his friends coming over to him…

As soon as he touched his own skin, Marcus suddenly felt himself being pulled forward, and after his vision whited out once again, he could feel his worldly body again, and opened his eyes as soon as he could, sitting up in the process. As soon as he did so, a sobbing Shiala pushed him back down to the ground, crying, "Marcus, don't do that to me! I thought you were gone, I thought I'd lost you, I thought…"

"I'm okay…" he said, putting his arms around her. "I just blacked out again, that's all…"

"Did you see…?"

Marcus gave a cough as he pushed her off of him, noting the others standing right next to them. They got up and set off again under the light of the stars, once again in the formation they had been in earlier, with a sore and grumbling Manny being held up by a smug Xenly at the back of the group.

A few minutes later, Marcus dove into his saddlebags and pulled out the octagram, finding a black gem of some sort embedded three holes on from the purple stone, and showed it to Shiala.

"When did that happen?" she asked, clearly curious.

"Just earlier…" Marcus replied, "While I was kissing you."

"Did he… did Vizorvy say anything of interest?"

Marcus shook his head. "Not of any interest to you, at least."

They stood up and headed back to their companions, including a sore and grumbling Manny who was again being supported by Xenly as they started walking off under the stars. It was a calm, cool night, and a very light breeze blew past them, more refreshing than chilling in the summer heat. Marcus and Shiala put their arms around each other as they walked, speaking in low tones so that the others couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Hey, Marcus…"

"Hm?"

"Supposing… just supposing that we make it to the end and we're both still alive, and we mated and had kids… what would you want to call them?"

Exhaling slowly as he thought, Marcus tightened his grip on her a little. "I don't really want kids, you know… by accident or by intention… maybe that'll change as I get older, but right now, I don't really want them. Though, if I had one with you… if it was a male, I'd call it Leon, and if it was a female, I'd call it… Alziana."

Shiala looked over to him. "You'd…"

"Yes," Marcus replied with a nod, "It's what she would have wanted, I'm sure of it… what about you, though?"

"Well, if it was a male I'd name it after my father, I guess… Andreas… but if it was a female, I'd want to name it after my sister, Clara."

Looking over to her and meeting her gaze, Marcus inquired, "You have a sister?"

"Had." Shiala said sadly, looking downwards. "Same father, different mother… a feral chief is usually a prime candidate for fathering children, but Andreas hadn't been around too long when… when he died… shortly after she did…"

Marcus reached over with his free hand and put it on the side of her head. "I'm sorry… what happened to her?"

"I don't know… I was playing with her one day and she suddenly became all tired and slumped over onto the ground… nobody knew what was wrong with her, and without a cure, she died in her sleep, feverish and shaking… I just hope that whatever happened to her won't happen to me, either."

Her other half cuddled her as they kept walking. "And it happened…?"

"Just before you arrived." She muttered. "And my father wasn't there much… he tried, he really did, but he was being called around by the medics every time they thought they had figured out what had happened to her… oh, I wish you'd been there a few days sooner to comfort me…"

"It's okay," Marcus said in a calming voice, "I'm here now, and I'm going to keep it that way if I can… because I love you… tell me your problems and I'll try to make them better… the same treatment I gave to Alziana…"

"You miss her, don't you?"

He closed his eyes and dipped his head. "Yes… yes I do."

After that, Shiala became oddly quiet, and Marcus didn't disturb her as they kept walking through the night, fighting their fatigue…

**To be continued…**


	31. Chapter Thirty: Loose Threads

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Book 1 – A Quest for Vengeance**

****

**Chapter 30 = Loose threads**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Around the time that dawn broke, while the four travellers behind Dave and Visali were almost sleepwalking, trying to keep going despite the protests of their legs to stop, the red-orange Yoshi turned back and shouted, "Look! We're almost there!"

Rushing up to him, they stood and looked out down into the valley; the mountain range ended within a few hundred yards or so, and after that a well-maintained road began, leading into a walled city after approximately a mile. The city had a river running through the centre of it, and many ways in and out besides the one they were about to take, with heavy traffic on the roads as carts made their way through the gates and into the city.

"My home." Visali said, with an air of smugness about him. "The city of Corvan. And on our left, just past the river, is the university complex, though you can't quite make it out from here."

Manny gave a groan and asked, "You mean we still have to walk all the way through the city?"

"Well, first, it's only halfway." Visali answered. "Secondly, the city is laid out in a grid system, so it's not too hard to get there or find your way around. And finally, the university's halls of residence are on _this_ side of the river, overlooking the university itself. Come on, if we get going now we can get there within an hour or so."

Spurred on by their goal being in sight, they set off along the path, which became a road after a short while. They reached the city walls within half an hour, and had to stop at the pedestrian entrance so that a pair of armoured guards, one grey Yoshi and one yellow Yoshi, could search them for any illegal goods before they were let through.

Visali, Dave, and Manny got through quite painlessly, as was Marcus once he passed off the octagram as being a fake, reasoning that he couldn't be a divinely chosen saviour and clearly wasn't going to try and sell 'such an obvious imitation', not to mention that it was 'missing' five of the gems. Shiala had her backpack searched and was questioned about the knife, but after saying it was a dragon's tooth blade they laughed and let her past, clearly unbelieving. Closing the gate again, they were about to sit back down when one of them snapped his fingers.

"Hey, weren't there six of you?"

"You're right." The other one said. "Where's that white female gone? She looked like she had attitude."

"Maybe she went to another entrance to cut the queue." Visali suggested, and the guards sighed, before nonchalantly going back to waiting for someone on foot to come along.

They started off down the road with Visali in the lead, and Marcus noticed that there had been a cunning switch; Visali was now helping Manny walk along, and as they passed a dark alley Xenly calmly walked out of it and tagged along the back of their group. "Uh…" Marcus began, but she put a finger to her lips to indicate for him to be quiet, giving him a knowing wink and taking Manny off of Visali.

Marcus never did work out how Xenly had gotten past the guards, but figured the reason for wanting to avoid a search was her extensive collection of needles, throwing stars, daggers, poisons, pins, and whatever else she had concealed in her saddlebags.

Walking through the cobblestone streets, Marcus noticed that there were lots of shops on either side of the street selling varying items, plus lots of side streets and back alleys going off of the road they were on. Shiala was incredibly interested in the city and kept slowing down inadvertently to look at things, and was intrigued as they passed through a large square with benches and a water fountain.

"Hey, Visali, how does that work?" She called out, and he replied, "Water pressure. They force water from the river down the pipes and it's forced out the fountain, under enough pressure to arc up into the air like that. The water at the bottom drains back into the main sewer system and is pumped out into the river further down. It's straight from the river, so you could probably drink it, but I wouldn't do it myself."

Three streets on, Visali led them down a side street and stopped at a multi-story block of flats, while Dave fumbled in his pockets for a key, eventually finding it and letting himself in. They quickly went inside and the door closed behind them, locking again with a _click _as the door shut, before following Visali up a flight of stairs two floors, and down a corridor. They came to a room with a plate on it, reading _'Room 204 – Visali Lestan / David Skiller'._

"This is it." Visali said, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

It was extremely untidy inside the flat and had the mark of a university student's living space; the main room they were looking into had a plain blue carpet, a small dining table and two chairs, a large sofa next to a large but low table, several bookshelves, and a few other odds and ends scattered about. There were three other doors around the room, though two of them were closed and the third led into what appeared to be a small yet functional kitchen. Scattered around on tables and occasionally on the floor were scraps of paper and vaell, and Marcus even noticed several small metal parts for something strewn about the tables. Hanging on one of the walls in the living room was a portrait of an orange Yoshi in between a grey male and a green female, which Marcus assumed could only be Visali's family, though they looked a little familiar…

"Okay, here's the deal;" Visali said, picking up the pile of mail on the floor on his way in, "We can get one person on the sofa, but the other three are going to have to get a hotel room somewhere. Seeing as I doubt that Mr and Mrs Marcus there…" he remarked, waving a hand towards Marcus and Shiala, "…are going to let themselves be separated, it's a choice between Manny and Xenly."

"Flip a coin." Manny said immediately before Xenly could so much as utter a word. "I feel like Karshina's on my side today. The winner gets the peace and quiet of the sofa and the other gets woken up by things that go _hump_ in the night."

"Hey!" Marcus snapped, "How many times do I have to tell you that me and Shiala have only been sleeping next to each other? Honestly, Manny, just keep your dirty mind to yourself…"

"Call it." Xenly interrupted, flipping a bronze coin up into the air with a flick of her thumb.

"Tails." Manny said, and bent down as the coin landed on the soft carpeting without a sound.

"Tails it isn't." Xenly observed smugly, picking up the coin. "Enjoy your company, cripple."

Cutting in between them, Visali spoke up, "Which reminds me, I'll go find Sira and go bring her back here so we can hack that cast off of your leg. Be right back!"

He sprinted out the door, and Dave sighed as he handed Manny and Xenly each a spare set of keys. "Sira's his girlfriend, as you probably guessed. Watch your step when she shows up or we could be carting you off to the university to look for some other magi-medicine students to put you back together."

"Gotcha." Xenly said, making herself comfortable on the sofa and taking a further opportunity to rub it into Manny. "Wow, this is comfortable… nice and soft… all I need is a blanket and I'm set for a snooze."

Manny grated his teeth for a moment before Marcus grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room. "Now look here," he said, "I refuse to sleep in the same _building_ with you if you're going to be so bloody immature about this. Me and Shiala are NOT, I repeat, NOT going to be doing anything under the covers of a hotel bed except sleeping, you got me?"

"Why, do you prefer the floor?" Manny quipped, and Marcus threw his hands up in exasperation.

"I give up, I really do. You're the one with the cash, pay for two rooms if you can't stand being in the same room as us for more than two damn seconds."

"Look, I…" Manny started with an apologetic tone in his voice. "You just remind me a little of Karin, that's all… plus you're my friend and though I can't resist taking shots at you… it's all in jest, you know. Remember how I did that when you were with Alziana?"

"Too well." Marcus murmured. "I also seem to remember you taking it that one step too far and trying to break us up…"

"I apologised for that!" Manny protested. "I know it was a stupid thing for me to do, not to mention selfish and underhanded, and I regret it to this day."

Marcus shook his head. "Just forget it. Let me get Shiala so we can find a hotel."

"Right. Once Sira's fixed up my leg, of course. Do you have any plans after that?"

"Sure, I… Shiala!" Marcus said, calling Shiala over to him from where she was, trying to make sense of what Dave was saying to her.

"You called?" she asked, and Marcus gave a nod.

"Once Manny's leg is fixed up, I'm going to take you to the nearest store that sells Yoshi gear and get you some stuff to wear… you're going to stand out if we don't." Marcus said in Yoshian.

Shiala glared at him and replied, "I'm not going to wear anything! I'm perfectly happy as I am, thank you very much, and I don't care if people stare."

Marcus chuckled for a moment, then put on a serious look. "Uh, no. It's just while you're outside… we don't want to draw attention to ourselves if we can help it. Besides, if you want to be in a city you've got to not look like you just came from the middle of the wilderness."

She folded her arms and looked away from him, and he gave an exasperated sigh. "Can you do it for me?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Please?"

She continued to look away for a moment, before closing her eyes and turning back to him. "Oh, alright…" she said, opening her eyes, "but I get to pick the clothes."

"So long as you wear _something_." Marcus muttered.

About five minutes later, Visali showed up with his girlfriend in tow; she was a pink Yoshi, her skin tone a few shades darker than Alziana's had been, and she had a pair of bright blue boots as well as a pure white saddle but no saddlebags. Short eyelashes were above her eyes, and in one hand she carried a long, thin stick of wood, which Marcus assumed to be a magic wand, and Visali directed her to Manny's leg.

"Ah, no trouble at all to fix up." She said in a deep but feminine tone. "Okay, let me see… _Oralia_ _Fractura_!"

She tapped Manny's cast, and Marcus saw him grit his teeth for a moment before relaxing as Visali used Manny's sword to cut off the cast, splitting it into two halves and letting it fall to the floor. Manny flexed his leg experimentally, and gave a cheer as he found it was fully healed.

"Thanks, Sira, you're the best!" he cried, and she gave a broad smile. "Oh, well thank you, I do try…"

Turning to Visali, who was putting an arm around her, she asked, "Did you get my letter? It ought to be with any other mail that was there…"

"Err…" Visali began, and she gave him a stern look. "Visali… you _did_ read your mail, right?"

"I only just got back… I was going to do it later…"

Before the startled eyes of Marcus, Manny, and an even more bemused Shiala, Sira grabbed Visali by the flesh on his chest and hauled him into his room, slamming the door behind her. She began shouting very loudly, but the door appeared to be partially soundproofed and they couldn't make out what she was saying, not that they particularly wanted to.

"Uh…" Manny began after a few uneasy moments, "I'm going to go find a hotel… I'll meet you back here later, okay?"

Marcus gave a slow nod. "Yes… I'm going shopping with Shiala now… see you in a bit."

"Oh, uh…" Manny muttered absently, reaching into his saddlebags, "here's a little spending money… keep the change if there is any."

He handed Marcus several gold coins and took off, closely followed by Marcus as they headed out of the building.

"And another thing," Sira shouted, "Who on Chyrus is SHE?"

She was pointing a pink finger towards Xenly, who was lying stretched out on the sofa with her hands behind her head and her legs crossed, watching them with mild interest. Visali answered, "She's with Manny and the others… a traveller, like they are."

"Assassin." Xenly corrected, and Visali went quiet for a moment.

"An assassin?" Sira cried, enraged. "You let an _assassin_ into your flat?"

"I didn't know!" Visali protested. "I only just found out now!"

"I don't believe you sometimes…" She muttered as she let go of him and shook her head, opening the door and walking out of it.

"Wait, Sira, come back!" Visali called, chasing her out the door and out of sight.

Uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a moment before Dave sighed and said, "Don't worry, they'll make up, they always do. I can't wait to hear what she says about him not winning the money from the contest in Lince, though… you want something to drink?"

"Yeah, sure." Xenly murmured, still looking out the door absent-mindedly.

After a few minutes, Dave came back and handed her a small cup of tea, which Xenly took and drank happily once it had cooled down slightly. Tea leaves grew in the mountains down in the southwest of Chyrus, along with several other plants unique to the mountainous landscape there in a territory simply known as the Kaftata Mountain range, named after the most precious plants that grew there that could cure almost any disease when properly prepared. However, as trade in the leaves was restricted to stop them being completely uprooted, the cure was very expensive and often only available in small doses or for the extremely rich.

"Is it that bad that I'm an assassin?" Xenly asked.

"Well, sort of." Dave replied, taking a sip from his cup. "You see, his parents were killed by an assassin, so he's been even more afraid of them than normal… it's the whole reason he came here and enrolled on the University's weaponsmithing class, so that he could come up with something to use to hunt down the assassin and kill her himself."

"Her?" Xenly inquired.

"Yeah, he doesn't like to talk about it… all I ever got out of him was that it was a female Yoshi who was having an affair with his father, Vick…"

The empty cup slipped from Xenly's hands and fell to the carpeted floor, undamaged by the fall. She quickly picked it up under the questioning gaze of Dave to hide her face from him, and pushed past him into the kitchen, looking away from him the whole time as she washed out the cup.

"In the names of all the gods…" Xenly whispered to herself, "Vick's son… the one loose thread I never tied up…"

**To be continued…**


	32. Chapter Thirty One: Perspectives

**

* * *

Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 31 = Perspectives**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Cursed Yoshi is now on a bi-weekly update, Sunday and Wednesday, until further notice._

Strolling along the main street, arms linked, Marcus and Shiala made their way past the stalls and shops lining the road while they looked for one that sold Yoshi gear. The sun was shining brightly and beating down onto the cobblestone road they were taking, except for where the occasional three or four storey building blocked the light and cast shadows down into the street. As the sun crept higher in the sky, they finally found a promising shop and went inside together, immediately feeling relief in the shade from the increasing heat outside.

Marcus was almost as astounded as Shiala; there were shelves upon shelves of saddles, saddlebags, boots, cloaks, and backpacks, accompanied by racks and tables of shoelaces, inner soles, leather straps, and buckles. There was a dark green Yoshi sitting behind a counter with his feet up on the countertop, fanning himself with a folded wad of vaell parchment, and the counter his feet were resting on had a stack of tins of polish on one side, next to a box of pins, clips, and brooches.

"Go pick something out." Marcus said to her. "Come find me when you're done... I'm going to take a look around, too."

She nodded and left him, disappearing behind a display shelf of Yoshi shoes a moment later, leaving Marcus to walk to the very back of the shop, where he looked among the selection of cloaks. Having been thoroughly soaked several times so far on his journey, he picked out a tanned leather mantle, putting it on for a moment to check the size and finding it far too short. Taking a longer and heavier one, he tried it on and nodded to himself in approval as he looked in a nearby mirror; it covered his entire body right down to his legs, though it was open at the back, not that he minded. Taking it off and heading for the counter, he looked in the box next to the polish until he found a shiny wrought iron brooch that he could use to pin the front closed at the top so he wouldn't have to hold it.

Paying for them with Manny's money, he walked back over to Shiala, who had amassed a small pile of things from the shelves and was trying them on in sequence, though Marcus guessed that she didn't have any idea what to go with.

The styles she tried included traditional reddish-orange; a shade of green that clashed horribly with her skin; an outfit of black leather complete with studded leather straps on various parts of her body, which he loathed; and a pair of sandals matched with an extremely small brown leather saddle.

"Come on," Marcus muttered impatiently, "I could've gotten some of that polish and gone over every last inch of my gear by now."

"If you're in such a hurry, just go and I'll catch up." She snapped, throwing her latest rejection at him, a saddle made from frilly pink lace and similar padding that looked like an oversized cushion, in Marcus's opinion.

"Fine, fine..." Marcus muttered, giving her the leftover coins and strolling out of the store, holding his cloak over one arm; it was far too hot and unpleasant to wear it right now.

_Alziana never had a temper like that,_ Marcus thought to himself, _she was always so sweet and gentle... her patience was finite, yes, but I never needed to test it that far... this has developed into something I didn't expect. When I first saw Shiala, I never felt much for her... but that's changing, along with everything else..._

Marcus, lost in thought, bumped into somebody in the street and muttered apologetically as he walked on, coming to a stop in the shade of a large building and leaning against a wall. _I remember when I met Alziana... that was different..._

* * *

_Sitting in a chair enjoying the sun, Marcus awoke from his nap at the sound of the voice from his side, absent-mindedly looking over to it, and gasping as his gaze locked onto the source of the voice. Who are you, he thought, and where have you been all my life?_

_The soft, soothing voice told Marcus that the Yoshi in front of him was a girl, but not just any girl... she was the proverbial girl of his dreams; her skin was a stunning shade of pink, and Marcus couldn't think of anything more beautiful in the world. His eyes travelled up and down, taking in every detail, from the small red boots she was wearing, past her hands, which were clasped together in front of her chest, and up to her eyes, which she was fluttering at him. She wore a small amount of jewellery, and wore a red saddle that had a shiny patch indicating a recent polish, and a thin leather strap holding it to her body. She was nervously moving her right foot from side to side with the toe of her shoe in the ground, and the movement made her tail sway slightly. To Marcus, she seemed very graceful as she began to gently rock back and forth on the balls of her feet as she looked at him, seeming unsure of what to say next. Marcus fell so deeply in love he forgot about all the other things that were around him; he forgot about Manny, his parents, all the other Yoshies around him, and all of the problems that had been plaguing him recently. All that he could think of was the beautiful Yoshi standing right in front of him, and everything else seemed to just melt away..._

* * *

"Ah, Marcus, there you are."

Breaking out of his daydream, Marcus found Manny by his side, panting a little from the heat. "I got us a place just down the road from Visali's... they were fairly full, though, so the best I could get was a small family room. I'll get a bed of my own, but you and Shiala are sharing a double."

"And you won't mind that?"

Manny smirked and replied, "Ah, like you said, you two have just been sleeping next to each other, not on top of each other."

His friend gave a little chortle and led Manny back to the store he'd left Shiala in, showing the blue Yoshi the new cloak he had bought. Manny was just starting on how he thought he might get one when they stepped inside the store itself and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Please tell me that's not Shiala." Marcus said.

Manny shook his head and answered, "No way... I wouldn't want to lie to you, man."

Shiala turned to face them and Marcus just stared; she had blood-red shoes and a slightly brighter red saddle with a strap coloured like her shoes, which in themselves wouldn't have been so bad. However, she had also decked herself out in expanses of pinkish-red lace around her ankles, wrists, neck and tail, and lace streamers coming off from her wrists. She gave Marcus a twirl with a smile on her face, before asking the unanswerable, "What do you think?"

Marcus reworded his first reply at least four times before coming up with a slightly kinder reply of, "We came here to make you blend in with the crowd, not stand out even more. Lose the lace and we'll be fine... and get a set of saddlebags to go with that stuff, too."

She gave him a reproachful look, but he folded his arms and she started removing the lace in a disheartened manner before looking at the selection of saddlebags. Manny nudged his Marcus's, whispering to him, "Smooth." in a slightly impressed tone.

"Like a hatchling's tail." Marcus whispered back, waiting patiently while Shiala went and paid for her saddle, saddlebags, and boots, and Manny ran to the back of the store to get a cloak, coming back with a dark leather one that was much darker than Marcus's skin. He also grabbed a plain, circular, shiny brass clip to go with his cloak, and after paying for his things the three of them left the store and headed back to Visali's apartment.

* * *

Upon arriving back in the room, Xenly rushed up to Manny and took him aside while Marcus and Shiala sat down on the sofa and talked to Dave, noting that Visali and Sira weren't to be seen.

"Hey, Manny," Xenly began, "How'd you like to swap rooms? I'll take the hotel room and you can stay here..."

"Nah." Manny replied immediately. "I'm fine with sleeping in the same room as them. Why the sudden change of mind?"

"It's personal..." she muttered.

"Well, if you're not going to tell me everything, I certainly won't swap with you, not that I would anyway."

"I'm begging you!" she said, clutching at the flesh on his chest. "Please, I can't sleep here, I... it... it's complicated..."

Pushing her off of him, Manny strode past without another word and went to go catch up on the conversation he had missed part of, leaving Xenly to just stare wistfully at him before following.

Dave was leaning with one hand on the wall and the other by his side, talking to Marcus cheerfully. "...so, are you staying for dinner or getting it at the hotel?"

"Getting it at the hotel." Marcus replied. "Manny said on the way back that they included a meal with the room, so we'll get that and then get some sleep."

Dave gave a thoughtful nod as the door opened again and Visali strode in alone, yet apparently proud of himself for something, judging by his cheerful mood and the way he had his chest stuck out. "I," he started in a bragging tone, but was cut off by Dave interjecting, "Made up with Sira on a promise that you're unlikely to fulfil, thus prompting another argument?"

"No, of course not!" Visali sputtered. "I only made _that_ mistake the once. Not only did we make up, but I've netted myself a date for tonight, and she's agreed to come for the tourney tomorrow..."

"Wait, what?" Manny asked. "A tourney?"

"Yeah, like the one in Lince, at the university tomorrow... you need to have registered previously, though." Visali answered. "I don't think they'd let you enter, but you can always try if you want. It's teams of two, by the way, so you'd need a partner."

"Hey, it's something to do. Marcus, what do you think?"

Marcus, who hadn't fully been paying attention and was more focused on Shiala, suddenly turned back and muttered, "What do I think of what?"

"Entering a university tournament together. It'd be fun!"

"Well, uh..." Marcus stalled, "Maybe... I mean, the last one didn't go to well..."

"Tell you what." Visali said, taking control of the conversation, "I'll take you there and you can enter if they'll let you, otherwise you can watch me and Dave win, how about it? Sira and some other magi-medicine students will be on-hand if you get hurt, so no worries about that."

"Sounds great!" Manny said, breaking into a grin. "I'll warn you though, if we enter your chances of winning are somewhat reduced."

"It's all talk." Visali countered with a smirk. "Me and Dave have a little surprise planned, don't we?"

On cue, Dave stood next to Visali and nodded, saying, "We've made a few alterations to our spears... and you haven't seen all of them, that's for sure."

Then, Visali started waving them out the door. "Anyway, I have a date that I have to get ready for, so head for the hotel and you can meet me here tomorrow morning, okay?"

Marcus, Manny, and Shiala were ushered out the door, and Visali closed it behind them, turning to Dave and Xenly. "Hey," he said, addressing the white Yoshi, "You've gone pretty quiet. What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing." She muttered. "I'm just tired, that's all..."

* * *

Marcus looked around the hotel room Manny had led them to. It wasn't much, but it would do; the carpet was a reddish shade much akin to the colour of grape wine, and the walls were plain white but in good condition. There was a bathroom just next to the door, a few tables around the room, some cushioned chairs, a smallish single bed, and a rather large four-poster double bed with hangings the same colour as the carpet.

Manny gave a long, low whistle as he leaned against a wall to let the other two past. "They didn't tell me that thing was a four-poster," he mused in Yoshian for Shiala's benefit, "or I'd push you two out and take it myself."

"Thanks, but no thanks." She replied, dropping her backpack. "The floor doesn't look too comfy." She then strolled over to the bed and sat down on the side, before flopping down onto her back and remaining there, motionless.

"Now _this_ is comfort." She said to Marcus. "We've only got those cushions back in the feral village... I could get used to this, you know."

"Don't get too comfortable, though. We've gone through all the food in your backpack and I'm getting hungry, so we're going down to the hotel restaurant. You coming, Manny?"

Manny shook his head. "Nah, I got a whole bunch of food for myself while I was looking for you. It was on sale and I couldn't resist... I probably ate too much though..."

Marcus gave a hearty, amused laugh. "You? Eat too much? And you call yourself a Yoshi! Come on, Shiala, let's leave him and go get something..."

* * *

It was much, much later. The evening was fading into night, and Marcus and Shiala were waiting at the dinner table for the bill to arrive, having just enjoyed a lavish three-course dinner, not speaking much to each other while they ate. The restaurant was fairly small, and they had been seated at a two-person table in a dark corner, lit by candles on the table and on wall brackets. Marcus was content to just lean back in his chair and let the meal settle, but Shiala coughed to get his attention, and he leaned across the table towards her, wondering what she wanted.

"Marcus..." she began, "I was just wondering if... uh... you'd like to spend a little more time alone together before we go back to the room..."

"Yeah, sure." Marcus replied, paying the Birdo waitress that presented him with a bill, before standing up and leading the way out of the restaurant with Shiala in tow. They left the restaurant, but instead of going up the stairs to their room, they left the hotel through its double doors, whereupon Shiala took the lead and led Marcus down to the riverside, though it was lined with concrete and was more like a canal than a river.

It was pleasantly warm as the last of the sun's rays disappeared, and the two of them sat down next to each other, listening to the calming sound of running water as people went by behind them. It was a clear night, and the moon was reflected in the river water, along with several stars dotting the night sky, a myriad of tiny white circles seemingly random in their arrangement.

Shiala clasped hands with Marcus as they both stared into the river for a few minutes in silence, before she gently leaned over and pulled on him a little to make him face her. He turned in her direction, and she gave him a gentle, loving kiss to the lips before leaning back away from him, keeping her eyes level with his.

"Marcy..." She began, but Marcus suddenly shook his head.

"Don't call me that." He commanded.

"Hm? Why? Don't loving couples always have pet names for each other?"

Marcus sighed. "That was what Alziana called me, too..."

"Look, Marcus..." Shiala said, moving on to what she had intended to say before, "I know that I love you, Marcus, but... do you really love me? I understand that you're upset by Alziana's death, but have you really gotten over her enough to hold feelings for someone else, or am I just here for you to fall back on, to help heal the scars and make you feel better?"

"Yes and no." Marcus replied slowly. "You're doing those things for me... but that's not how I feel about you. You're... different from the way she was, and I appreciate that... you're not Alziana, but I still have feelings for you because you're nice to me, you're kind, and you love me... it's complex, but I think we can work it out..."

"Just so long as we're clear on that." She said, putting an arm around him. "I don't want to be used and cast aside..."

"No." Marcus muttered. "I could never do that to anyone. I'm not that sort of person."

"I never said you were." She replied, and gave him another kiss, stroking his shoulders while she did so.

Marcus smirked as she drew back and remarked, "You're very deep for someone two years younger than I am."

She chuckled and answered back, "That's what makes me so special, right?"

"Exactly." Marcus whispered, leaning forward to kiss her again, putting his arms under hers and holding her close to him as they kissed beneath the light of the early night sky...

* * *

_I have to kill him. I have to kill him. I have to kill him..._

Xenly was lying on her back on the sofa, wide awake, her swords within her reach on the floor just next to the sofa, her senses attuned to any movement or sound around her. She was holding a throwing star in her hands, turning it over, gazing at it as she formulated a plan...

_If I leave him long enough, he'll figure it out for himself and then he'll be harder to kill... I have to enter that tournament tomorrow; that will make it easier for me... I can just say I lost control or didn't mean to kill him, and I'll be fine..._

She stopped suddenly as she heard voices outside, muffled by the soundproofed door. Visali and Sira, no doubt... Dave was in his room and the door to that was closed, but she had seen him take his quadra spear and several metal parts in with him.

_I need a partner for that tournament if I want to enter though... maybe I can separate Marcus and Manny, but I'd need to bribe one of them with something... and I simply don't have anything that would suffice...unless Shiala would..._

She shook her head. _Maybe something like a blow dart from the crowd... it wouldn't be traceable, and it would be silent..._

_I know that Vick wouldn't want me to do this, but it's for my own safety. But it's my own fault that I'm in this mess... and it'll be me that gets me out of it._

_I simply have to kill him._

**To be continued...**


	33. Chapter Thirty Two: The Tournament Begin...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 32 = The Tournament Begins**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Shiala and Marcus were back in the feral village, having returned from their journey. They had separated from their friends, and now the two of them had decided to return together, and spend an indeterminate amount of time together in the quiet village, maybe even staying there for the rest of their lives...

Currently, they were alone together in a tent, and Marcus was laying out several cushions for them to lie on, while Shiala extinguished the lamps and closed the tent flap, before the two of them came together and kissed passionately, and falling down to the cushions together...

Then, Shiala's dreams suddenly twisted; the vision of her tent swirled into inky blackness, and she had a horrible vision of a dead Marcus lying at her feet, next to the bodies of Manny, Dave, Xenly, and Visali... she looked up and saw an indistinct black figure, who gave an evil laugh before firing a curse at her...

Snapping out of her dream-come-nightmare, Shiala sat bolt upright under the covers of the hotel bed, gasping for breath and sweating heavily. The curtains around the bed were closed, and Marcus was lying on his side next to her, sleeping soundly, and she felt somewhat reassured as she gently stroked his fins, feeling a little less hot. She could see the elven necklace around his neck, and the rune attached to it lying on the mattress next to him, though it wasn't easy to see due to the lack of light under the hangings of the four-poster bed.

Lying back down on the soft, springy mattress, she tried and failed to fall asleep again, and simply lay there half-asleep until she heard Marcus groaning and yawning as he awoke and gently shook her.

"Hey, wake up." He whispered gently, and she rolled onto her back so she could sit up.

"Morning, Marcy." She said with a smile, and he forced a light chuckle.

"Morning, Shia." He replied, and she giggled.

Manny's voice came from the other side of the bed curtains, heavy with sarcasm, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Hah, they're better than 'Kerrie', I know that much."

"Hey, Karin liked it!" Manny retorted, drawing back the curtains to speak face-to-face with them, making them hold up their arms as their eyes adjusted to the light. "It's better than 'Alzi'; that was just lame."

"She didn't mind..." Marcus murmured, dipping his head a little and prompting Shiala to hug him from behind, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well, whatever." Manny said, rolling his eyes, "If we're quite done insulting each other's lack of imagination when it comes to pet names, shall we go? Visali showed up and he's waiting on the other side of your bed curtain."

Just to prove it, the curtains behind Shiala were whipped back to reveal Visali standing next to the bed with bulging saddlebags, and his quadra spear in his left hand. "Get up and we can go... there's a few things I want to show you first."

Marcus and Shiala got off of the bed and donned their equipment, muttering darkly about Manny and Visali as they waited patiently for the two lovers to get their things together. Shiala decided to leave her backpack in favour of her new saddlebags, taking the dagger, bow, arrows and quiver along with her, and the four of them left the room and headed out down the street. The sky was partially cloudy, but the sun still shone through gaps in the clouds, making it fairly warm without being uncomfortably hot.

"Dave went on ahead with Xenly." Visali explained, leading them past the riverside and over a solid stone bridge that spanned the canal. "It's not too far from here... that's the whole point of having the halls of residence just the other side of the river."

They could see it as they turned a corner just after they crossed the canal; a huge, four floor, U-shaped building made entirely from bricks and mortar stood in front of them, with ornate metal gates that were currently open and young people from all three races making their way in through the gate. Just past the gate there was a large, grassy courtyard with fountains, benches, and in the centre of it all was a large, stone statue of a Yoshi in mid-stride, with a book under one arm, and an inscription at the bottom that read, 'Tivaro, the god of knowledge and wisdom'.

"They have a smaller one inside..." Visali said, gesturing to the statue as they passed it, "They figured it was only fitting, since this is a University after all, to have statues and statuettes of him around the place. Since there's no real image of the human god, and the Birdos believe in the Intelligent Designer Theory, they didn't have to counterbalance all these Yoshian religious statues..."

"Intelligent Designer Theory?" Manny asked, and Visali gave a nod. "Rather than believing in a god that is all powerful and creates or destroys things at will, they believe that a greater power designed the universe rather than creating it, and it spread from that design, adapting in itself, becoming what it is today... sounds a bit strange to me, but as they say, 'to each their own'..."

Visali lead them across the grass and up to a set of double doors, but when he tried to push them open they were firmly locked. "Odd..." he mused, before spotting a scrap of paper attached to the other side of the glass, that read, 'Tournament entrants, use door on the left. Tournament spectators, use door on right.'

With a shrug, the red-orange Yoshi took the lead again, and the others followed him around the edge of the building until they reached a single door with a desk just outside and two Birdos sitting at it, one grey and one blue. As they approached, the blue one continued to sort papers, but the grey one looked up and nodded at Visali in recognition, who nodded back.

"Hey there, Visali." The Birdo said, picking up a quill and a sheet of paper. "Good to see you... they've been making us use paper for some reason, but I personally prefer vaell... I can't get used to writing with these quill pens."

"Don't let Dave hear you say that, Darcen, or he'll start complaining about how hard it is to read vaell parchment."

The Birdo, apparently a male, shrugged and replied, "Dave's already been and gone... who're your friends? There was some white Yoshi who was here earlier... she said she was waiting for you, then just disappeared."

"Xenly? Ah, she'll show up. Anyway, I was wondering if I could enter my friends here... are there any spare slots?"

"Plenty." Darcen replied. "They made a change at the last minute... they doubled the number of entrants so that they could get everybody in the class in, but that left a fair few empty slots, so they've been out looking for people to fill them. Let's get you done first..."

It took only a few minutes for them to get Visali registered once the blue Birdo, a female, found and handed over Visali's entry form, and he went ahead and left them, going through the doors and out of sight.

Almost immediately after Visali had gone, Marcus felt someone tap on his shoulder, and he looked around to see Xenly standing behind him, nonchalantly nodding in greeting as though nothing odd had happened. He was about to speak when she held a finger to her lips, and with a frustrated sigh he turned back and stepped forward with Manny.

"Names?" the grey Birdo asked, taking a pair of fresh pieces of paper and dipping the quill in the inkwell next to him.

Manny answered. "Manny Sennet and Marcus... er..."

"Just put 'Yoshi'... it will have to do."

"Illegitimate child, hm?" Darcen remarked as he filled in the sheet. "Okay... weapons?"

"A sword and a flail." Manny said. "And a set of throwing knives."

"I'm sorry, bows, throwing knives, and that sort of thing aren't allowed. You won't be able to fight with them."

"Oh, okay..." Manny muttered, a little put out. "I think that's it."

"I'll need two gold coins as an entry fee... do either of you know magic?"

"No, we don't... is that going to put us at a disadvantage?" Manny inquired as he fished around in his saddlebags for the money, throwing the two coins onto the table in front of the blue Birdo.

"Not at all. It's not allowed, either, so you're probably better off. Okay, you're registered... just take this form through with you and you'll find the changing rooms and participant's stands. Good luck."

"Thanks." Manny said, taking the offered paper and heading through the door with Marcus following him. The grey Birdo put the quill back in the inkwell and was about to strike up a conversation with his companion when he heard a cough, and looked up to see Xenly and Shiala standing in front of the table, the latter holding out two gold coins.

Not even blinking, Darcen plucked the quill from the inkwell and asked, "Names?" as he grabbed another form with his claws and pulled it towards himself.

* * *

Marcus and Manny caught up to Dave and Visali inside the locker rooms, where Visali and his friend were stashing everything except their weapons inside a locker, before Visali slammed the door and pulled a tagged key from the keyhole.

"Hey there!" he said brightly as the two Yoshies pulled off their saddlebags. "I see you got through okay. There's going to be thirty-two teams if they can find enough entrants... with you as well, I think they have another three slots left to fill."

"Yeah, why the teams thing?" Manny asked as he tossed his saddlebags on top of Marcus's and closed the locker door. "Is it two on two?"

Dave shook his head. "Nah, tag teams. Both team members have to be disarmed, incapacitated, or they have to surrender for the other team to win."

"Incapacitated?" Marcus said, swallowing heavily.

"Any injury serious enough for them not to carry on." Visali replied. "If you're bleeding heavily and fall to your knees or onto the floor, they call and end to it... they don't want any deaths, you see. But that doesn't usually happen, so don't be too worried. Did they tell you the prize? If the winner is one of the weaponsmithing students, they get their design sent to a couple of weapons manufacturers, and if one of them buys it they get the thing sold commercially! Any non-student who wins gets a thousand coins, and their weapons coated in silver, so I'm sure there's plenty of incentive for you two to try and win, I'm sure... anyway, shall we head for the stands?"

The four of them left the locker room and found themselves in what looked to be a large assembly hall that had been converted for the tournament; permanent-looking rows of seats lined one side of the hall, and in the centre, and a fighting ring had been set up, with sturdy ropes enclosing anyone who decided to fight in it. The ring extended a bit beyond the ropes to allow enough space for someone to stand outside of them, and chairs lined two of the other sides of the hall for the competitors to use. On the fourth side, there was a row of five chairs occupied by students that Marcus assumed to be from the magi-medicine class, as Sira was one of them, and behind them was an enormous tournament board, showing a branched tree spreading out from the centre. Contender's names had been written out in big letters on sheets of paper, then attached to the board with needles, arranged to show the match-ups of the competitors.

They found some good seats two rows from the front, but just as Marcus was getting comfortable somebody took the seat next to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Just as he was about to complain, he saw who it was and sputtered, "Shiala?"

"Who else?" she said, putting an arm around him. "Me and Xenly entered as a team..."

"But it's dangerous!" Marcus protested.

Shiala glared at him a moment, before holding out her arm and flexing it, making her muscles bulge. "Look, Marcus, I know you're my boyfriend and all, but I'm stronger than you are, so I think that I can decide for myself what's dangerous and what's not, okay?"

"Sorry..." Marcus muttered, as she put his arm back around him. "I keep forgetting that you're stronger than you seem..."

She smiled, clearly forgiving him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before turning back to the ring and watching as an announcer stood in the centre of it, holding a wand. Marcus recognised her as being the blue Birdo from the entrance, and she said something inaudible while pointing the wand at her throat, casting a spell that amplified her voice so everyone could hear her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, students and teachers, Yoshies, Birdos, and humans... the tournament will begin shortly, so please be patient. I would like to announce that no further bets on the outcome of the tournament may be placed, though they will be open after the first round is finished and we are down to sixteen teams. Our first two competitors are Maria Slikan and Gemma Mortir, blue and yellow respectively, two Yoshies not from the University, but from _Club Veils_ down the road from here. They are up against Carl and Amelia Slater, human brother and sister from the University's weaponsmithing class. Our first team is fighting using a pair of..." the Birdo paused for a moment, squinting at the paper, before continuing, "...a pair of combat whips, while the second team is fighting with their creation, the 'Quintdent'."

"They won't win." Visali said with a tone of certainty in his voice. "The Quintdent is just a trident with five tines in a cross pattern, and though it's a good idea at heart they made it very shoddily. This won't last long."

Marcus saw two humans and two Yoshies leaving the competitor's stands and heading out into the ring. Marcus couldn't make out much on the humans, except that one was a man with shaggy black hair and a beard, and the other was a woman with long, brown hair that went down to her shoulders. The Yoshies, however, seemed to have come straight from the club they apparently worked at; they were decked out in silk veil headdresses that only exposed their eyes and the tops of their noses, and were wearing tailored silk garments that covered their backs and most of their coloured skin, leaving only a part of their tail visible. Marcus could barely see that the one in the lead was blue, somewhere between Manny's skin colour and a sky blue tone, while the other was dark yellow.

"Wow, nice." Manny muttered, giving a low whistle as he kept his eyes on the two Yoshies.

Visali smirked and said, "_Club Veils_ is one of those places that's practically sustained by university students... it's more of a theme place, though, and all the staff are dressed like that. They have great drinks though. I'll have to take you there some time."

The blue Yoshi and the woman kept to the outside of the ring, while the yellow Yoshi and the man stood at opposite corners, facing each other and keeping eye contact. The human was holding a long, wooden handle with a five-tined trident on the end, and the Yoshi had a rather thin, green whip that looked like it was made from some kind of plant vine.

The blue Birdo stepped off of the platform and rang a small bell next to it, prompting the match to start. Carl lunged forward and made a stab with the quintdent straight off the mark, but the Gemma nimbly dodged the attack and swung her whip at her opponent, missing only by inches. Stepping back first, Carl thrust forward and kept his distance, but as the quintdent head went past her she kicked up and knocked it away, seizing the momentary opportunity to strike him with her whip. The end caught him on the arm and he cried out as he brought his quintdent back down into a defensive position, but she swung her whip again and the end wrapped around the handle of the quintdent.

It was all too easy for her; she simply pulled back and jerked him forward, and with a second decisive pull the weapon came free from his hands and towards her, whereupon she caught it with her other hand and stood there taunting him with it while he stepped off the platform sadly.

"What did I tell you?" Visali said as cheers almost drowned out his voice. Gemma threw the quintdent off the platform as Amelia stepped over the ropes and into the ring, lunging forward and taking a stab that narrowly missed its mark. Very dexterously, Maria leapt backwards and somersaulted in the air, landing on her hands, before flipping over on the spot and landing back on her feet in time to jump up and over another attack. Rolling sideways on the ground to dodge another jab, she sprang up into the air and whipped her opponent across the face, drawing a bloodless welt through her skin, and provoking a cry of fury.

Amelia leapt up and stabbed downwards at her adversary, but the Yoshi was just too nimble and the quintdent head slammed into the wooden surface of the ring. Pulling at it, there was a sudden snapping sound and the handle came free, leaving the head embedded in the platform, and a surging flood of cheers filled the hall as the bell rang a second time.

"I wouldn't have bet on them." Visali muttered. "I've seen them working; they just didn't put any effort into it at all. I could see that coming a mile away... mind you, I placed a bet on myself, so it's not like I particularly want anybody else to win."

"Not that they would have let you." Dave added. "If they let participants bet on other competitors, they figure they'd throw the match."

The two humans went to the row of magi-medicine students to have their wounds healed, before exiting the hall dejectedly, with Amelia holding her broken weapon shaft in one hand and the quintdent head in the other. The two Yoshies high-foured each other before stepping down and heading back to the stands where the other competitors were, and the blue Birdo moved their names up the tournament tree before calling out once more.

"The victors are, quite clearly, Maria and Gemma! Congratulations to them and consolations to our losers. Our next battle is between two University teams; we have Marcel Sila and Raysa Golden, red and purple Birdos respectively, facing Visali Lestan and David Skiller, a pairing of a multicoloured Yoshi and a human. The first team is using their creation, the chakrata, and the second team is using their own weapon, the quadra spear."

"Oh god." Dave said despairingly, "Please tell me I didn't hear what I think I just heard."

"Don't worry man, we can take them." Visali said, giving his friend a pat on the back. "Just keep your guard up, okay?"

"Good luck, you two!" Manny called out to them as they got up and headed down. "Don't lose to anyone but me, okay?"

They gave hearty laughs at this, and headed down to the ring, closely followed by a male and female Birdo who both appeared to be carrying plain chakras. "You think they'll be okay?" Marcus asked, and Manny shrugged. "If they can't beat these two, I don't have the time to fight them."

"They'll be fine." Shiala said, tightening her grip on Marcus. He looked over to her, then spotted the empty seat next to her. "Hey," he wondered aloud, "Where's Xenly gone?"

"I don't know, she just said she had something to take care of." Shiala replied, and settled down to watch.

_Where has she gone?_ Marcus wondered, as he waited for the bell to ring.

**_To be continued..._**


	34. Chapter Thirty Three: The Assassin Fails

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 33 = The Assassin fails**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Xenly heard the cheers from below her as she tiptoed along the rafters, looking down every so often when she heard a sudden surge in the volume of the crowd. Two teams that she didn't know the identities of were fighting, but she put them out of her mind and concentrated, keeping her balance like she had trained for. The rafters were slightly wider than her feet, but they were sturdy enough for her to walk along without making them creak or break.

It was far too dark up where she was for anyone to see her, as there were no skylights and the only windows were down near the bottom of the hall. Stepping around a beam that was in her path, she continued until she reached a spot where two rafters crossed, and she lay down on her front to watch.

Reaching carefully into her saddlebags, she removed a small silver tube and a poison-tipped dart, before loading the dart into the blowpipe and taking aim as she saw Visali walking onto the platform...

* * *

"We can do this, Dave, we can do this!" Visali said encouragingly as he jumped up onto the platform and stood in the corner, while Dave took up his position just behind him on the other side of the ropes.

* * *

Xenly inhaled deeply and raised the blowpipe to her lips, her hands steady. She only had one shot... one shot, and that was it... she had to make this count...

* * *

"Just do your best, Dave. We'll win for sure!" Visali continued, bracing himself for the start of the match.

* * *

_Three... two..._

"Hey, who are you?"

Xenly heard the voice from behind her and jumped to her feet, landing on the support beam acrobatically, before pivoting around and firing the dart into the nose of a black Yoshi, who cried out and stumbled, falling off of the rafter beam and plummeting down to the ground. As he started to fall, she whipped out with her tongue with lightning reflexes and pulled the dart out of his nose, leaving his body to continue on its fall...

* * *

Just as Visali saw the blue Birdo reaching out for the bell, a black Yoshi fell from above him and slammed into the ring, bouncing once before coming to a stop. Silence fell over the entire hall, and after a few moments of stunned silence, Visali and his opponent stepped forward to the body, and the red-orange Yoshi took its pulse.

"He's dead." He announced after a few seconds, and Marcel knelt down by the corpse.

"Who is he, anyway?" Marcel asked, but nobody answered as two humans came and dragged the body off of the platform, over to the medical students.

"L...ladies and gentlemen," the blue Birdo announced, "please wait for a few moments while we sort out this turn of events... _Vocita Minima_."

"What's going on?" She asked, her voice back at normal level.

"Damned if I know." Visali muttered, standing back up and watching Sira and the others check the body.

* * *

Swearing under her breath as she ran, Xenly hopped from rafter to rafter with fluid and graceful jumps, crossing all the way back to the edge of the hall in barely any time. Scrambling down the access ladder, she arrived back in the storage cupboard next to the hall, on the second floor, near the access to the spectator stands. She opened the door a fraction to check for any students, shutting it as she heard footsteps, then sprinting back down the corridor away from them, down two flights of stairs, through the entryway and locker rooms, stopping and catching her breath before walking nonchalantly back into the participant's stands. She took the seat next to Shiala and sat down, asking, "I'm back, what did I miss?"

The red feral pointed towards the black Yoshi, and Xenly put on a tone of shock. "Oh my..." she said, "What happened?"

"He fell from the rafters..." Shiala gave by way of an answer, and Xenly pretended to stare in amazement while they carried his body off out of the hall.

* * *

"We don't know what happened to him." Sira said from the ringside. "We're going to take a better look at him later, but we can't do that here..."

"Where's my wand... ah, there we are... _Vocita Maxima_. Ladies and gentlemen," the blue Birdo shouted, "We will be resuming shortly. Sorry for the delay."

Visali exhaled slowly as he leant back against the ropes, watching Sira as she went back to the other magi-medicine students and sat down, collecting himself and concentrating once more on his opponent for the few seconds he had before the blue Birdo hit the bell.

Before its tone had even finished, Marcel whipped his chakrata at Visali, and he barely managed to block it with his spear, seeing the chakrata go back to its owner on the end of some study string. Swinging another chakrata attached to his other hand, Marcel got a successful hit on Visali, and the red-orange Yoshi winced as the gold-plated ring smashed into his nose, but he ignored the pain and immediately split his quadra spear shafts, figuring that if his opponent had two weapons, so should he.

Ducking another chakrata coming his way, Visali rolled to one side before knocking away a second attack with the half of the spear in his left hand. It fell to the floor but it suddenly ran back up the string, pulled back by something inside of it winding up the cord. Forced to parry a rapid succession of attacks, Visali was pinned to the spot where he stood, concentrating on knocking away every last attack as they came at him from his left, right, left, right, left, right...

In desperation, he leapt up into the air but felt a sudden stab of pain as a chakrata hit his underside, and he landed on his front on the floor, gasping for breath, trying but failing to will his body to move.

"One!" the blue Birdo shouted, counting him out. "Two! Three!"

"Come on man, get up!" Dave said encouragingly, and Visali made an attempt, but fell back down again, his chest heaving as he tried to take in more air...

"Four! Five! Six! Seven!"

"Don't fail me, Visali, come on..."

"Eight! Nine!"

Visali struggled one final time, pushing up against the floor, but fell back down again onto his side and gasped, his vision going fuzzy...

"Ten! Visali, counted out!"

The crowd cheered as Sira and someone else came up and carried him off, desperately trying to stay conscious, the two halves of his quadra spear still firmly in his grip. Dave sighed in despair as he stepped over the ropes, his hands shaking, and he took up his position as the bell rang again, signalling the next part of the match.

Dave wasn't entirely unprepared; having studied his opponent while he was fighting Visali, he was as ready as he ever would be. As soon as a chakrata came his way, Dave sidestepped it, dropping the angle his spear was at and sidestepping the next attack, bringing the spearhead up and through the centre of the chakrata. He pulled hard and brought Marcel forward, before kicking him in the chest and sending him back, pulling him again by the bindings around his wrist. Dave then split his spear into two and used the other one to attack his opponent, driving the spearhead into his side and prompting a sudden flow of blood.

Marcel fell to the floor, and the bell rang, barely audible over the combined sound of all five magi-medicine students simultaneously casting various healing spells on the fallen combatant, whose wounds healed in the blink of an eye. Sadly, he plucked his chakrata off the end of Dave's spear and left the stage, a little unsteady due to the sudden injury and healing, to the sound of hundreds of cheers from the audience.

Dave then concentrated on his new opponent while he caught his breath; a purple female Birdo with a smallish pink bow on the back of her head, also carrying two chakratas, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to pull the same trick twice. She took the corner opposite him, and Dave spared a glace down to the sidelines, where a disoriented Visali was leaning on Sira for support, watching Dave sadly.

The bell rang to signal the final round, and for a moment, neither Raysa nor Dave made a move, each expecting the other to make the first strike, and then Dave took a cautious step forward, holding his quadra spear halves ready. Raysa faked a throw to get Dave's guard up, throwing the other chakrata and skimming his arm as it sailed past his spear, before quickly retracting it. Dave ignored the hit and pressed onwards, dodging and ducking her attacks as he tried to get close enough to attack, but she kept stepping away as she attacked, throwing the chakratas at different angles so Dave wouldn't be able to hook them like he had done with Marcel.

Desperate, he flicked catches on the sides of the spears, releasing the spearheads on the ends of chains, holding one of them out in front of him and rotating it in a full circle to block any attacks from his opponent. He saw Raysa pause, unsure of what to make of this, before throwing a chakrata at him experimentally in an attempt to see if she could get past his guard. However, the chakrata hit one of the spearheads and flew far up into the air, and as she turned to watch it, Dave lunged forward and whipped her with the other spearhead on the second spear half, slashing a large cut open and causing blood to run down her side from the open wound.

She pulled away from him and tried to stay standing, but fell to her knees for a moment, and was healed by the magi-medicine students as the bell rang to signify the end of the round. Dave let out a loud cry of triumph, striking a pose on the ring, before leaping over the ropes and down to Visali, who was also cheering.

"You did it Dave, you did it!" He cried, giving Dave a pat on the back. "I can't believe you did it... I'm so sorry that I lost, I thought we were out of it."

"Hey, if you hadn't gone first, I wouldn't have seen their strategy... you helped a lot, man." Dave replied encouragingly.

"Thanks... but I'm not going down so quickly in the next round!"

Sira cut in, "You'd better not! I don't want people to think my boyfriend can't hold his own in a fight for more than a minute..."

Visali moved over to her and said, "Aw, what does it matter what they think? You know I can last; I've beaten a lot of people before."

"You've still got a vow to carry out." She reminded him, giving him a gentle poke.

"Yes, well..." he murmured, "I'll fulfil it one day... and if we win this tournament and prove the effectiveness of the quadra spear, that day could be sooner than you think."

* * *

After Dave and Visali returned to the stands, Marcus watched only with mild interest as the matches continued, listening only to the matchups and weapons, and watching the first minute or so of the match before redirecting his attention to Shiala. Some of the more interesting competitors featured a pair of Yoshies using double-ended swords, eventually losing after having the blades forced back their way; two humans using a sword that had a complete U-shaped curve to the blade that defeated a Yoshi and a Birdo fighting with halberd spears; and two Yoshies fighting with swords that had V-shaped chunks taken out of the blade edge, defeating their opponents by default when the human team-mate on the outside of the ring attempted to intervene by throwing a dagger at his opponent, and subsequently resulting in a disqualification.

After about nine matches in total, Marcus heard the announcer call out again and looked away from Shiala. "Our next match is between two non-university teams. The first team is a pair of female Yoshies, comprised of a white assassin and a red feral, 'Xenly' and Shiala Filassa, fighting with a pair of samurai swords and a dragon's tooth blade respectively. They are up against another two male Yoshies, one red and one yellow, brothers, Siver and Djigo Traverra respectively, both fighting with longswords."

"I was wondering what you were fighting with." Marcus said after he finished translating. "I didn't think they'd let you use Laen's bow..."

"Hah, I could take them down with just my muscles if I wanted." She remarked, standing up and heading down to the ring with Xenly, who stood on the inside of the ring while Shiala stayed on the outside.

"Don't get hurt..." Marcus muttered under his breath as he watched her.

* * *

Xenly drew her swords with flourish, performing several attacks, counterattacks and parry moves against an imaginary adversary while her opponents clambered up and took their positions. She was going to be facing the yellow one first, Djigo, who drew his sword and, not to be outdone, also began to practice while he waited for the bell to ring.

The white Yoshi eyed him up, watching his technique before snorting in distaste, knowing he'd be easy to take down. Finishing her warm up and standing ready to begin, she tensed her legs and sprung forward as soon as the bell rang, making a series of rapid yet weak strikes that would suppress him rather than defeat him. Surprisingly, he deftly moved his sword in such a way that he was able to deflect every one before making a counter-swipe, though Xenly caught it on one of her blades before jumping backwards.

"Tag me, tag me!" Shiala cried, but Xenly ignored her and struck again, swinging with both swords at different angles, amazed at how easily her adversary blocked one and dodged the other. She'd clearly underestimated him...

Pulling one of her more practiced moves, she brought her swords together to form a cross before swinging them in that fashion, pressing up against his blade and attempting to push it towards him, but he pushed back against her and they stayed locked together for a moment before Xenly kicked him in the stomach, catching him off guard and winding him. In this moment of weakness, Xenly kicked him again square in the jaw, before planting a kick on his chest and sending him backwards, and he stumbled, falling onto the floor and groaning.

"One!" The blue Birdo shouted. "Two! Three! Four!"

Then, Djigo managed to get up to his knees to a sudden burst of cheers, and got to his feet unsteadily, stepping backwards while keeping his sword up. Xenly attacked him once more, making her swings as powerful as she could, but he soon managed to jump away and high-four his team-mate's outstretched hand, and the two of them switched positions.

"Tag me!" Shiala cried out for a second time, but Xenly put her out of her mind again and took a quick look at Siver; he was a red Yoshi with the same general look as Djigo, except that he was slightly smaller. He already had his sword drawn, and as soon as he was over the ropes he found himself under an onslaught of attacks from Xenly, striking without any pattern at all; left, right, right, right, left, left, right, left, left...

He was much less skilled than his brother, and Xenly was easily able to force him backwards, pushing him around the arena, constantly shifting the position of his sword to block her attacks only slightly slower than they came. He was panting heavily and starting to sweat as he was kept on the defensive, allowing Xenly to suddenly stop attacking him, jump to her side, and bring her left sword up to his neck, stopping less than an inch away from the surface of his skin, before giving a malicious whisper of, "Surrender if you enjoy being in one piece..."

Without hesitation, he dropped his sword and put two shaking hands in the air, before getting to his knees at her feet and dipping his head. After a few moments, he took his sword and left the platform, waiting by the ringside while his brother climbed back over the ropes.

"Come _on_, tag me!" Shiala cried, and Xenly gave an exasperated sigh, turning back to her and reluctantly slapping Shiala's outstretched hand, switching places with her. The red feral then drew her knife and stood opposite Djigo, who was looking at her with interest, before he spoke to her in Yoshian.

"You're mighty brave to come here, feral, but if I were you I'd stay out of the public eye in the future. That, or take some heavy protection around with me..."

"I don't need any extra protection." She snapped back. "I'm strong enough to take care of myself."

"Then prove it!" he cried, lunging forwards. She easily dodged a vertical sword swipe with a nifty side step, ducked a horizontal slash, and jumped over a diagonal swipe. She laughed gaily as he took a stab at her and she bent her back out of the way, rolled away from another vertical attack, and kicked away a sword slap.

"Come and get me!" she said teasingly, jumping out of the way of a frenzied slash and backflipping to avoid a forward stab. Djigo gave an enraged cry and jumped at her, slashing in midair, but she brought up the dagger and caught the sword blade on it, letting him hold it there for a moment before he drew back.

When she spun in the air to dodge another swipe, landing on a corner post and jumping off of it before landing on her toes and turning around on the very point of her blood-red shoes, Marcus, watching from the stands, rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Okay," Manny said to him, "Now she's just showing off."

Back in the ring, Djigo was having a continual streak of zero success; every time he tried to attack or hurt her, she simply wasn't where the blade of his sword was. When she wasn't doing various gymnastic manoeuvres to escape his slashes, she would block his attack with her dagger and force his sword back in his direction. Within a few minutes the crowd was cheering for her, chanting her name as she remained unscathed, making Djigo more and more furious with every failed attack.

Finally, she brought an end to the fight; she cartwheeled off to one side, sprung off of her hands and flipped upright in midair, jumped off of the ropes, and lunged feet-first for him. She wrapped her feet around his neck and brought him to the floor, sitting firmly on his chest and holding down his sword arm with one hand.

"I'm sure there are less embarrassing ways to lose..." Djigo panted, "But I can't think of any right now. I surrender. Care to release me?"

She stepped off of him to an almost deafening roar from the crowd as the bell rang, and Xenly stepped over the ropes to congratulate her. Djigo got to his feet once more and nodded in Shiala's direction, saying, "Hey, you're pretty good... how'd you like a date with me?"

"Heh... thanks, but no thanks, mister. I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate it much... and besides, I only go for the strong ones." She replied, giving a sly wink and a sweep of her hips before putting the dagger back in its sheath and heading off of the ring, leaving a slightly stunned and bemused Djigo to stare at her retreating form.

* * *

As soon as Shiala got back to the stands, she strolled up to Marcus and said proudly, "You see?"

"Yes, I see." Marcus confirmed. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"I accept your apology." She said softly, leaning down to him and kissing him on the nose, before sitting back down next to him and putting an arm around him as the next fight started...

**_To be continued..._**


	35. Chapter Thirty Four: Start The Second Ro...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 34 = Start the second round**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Again, Marcus paid little to no attention on the other fighters, only mildly interested by a fight that erupted into little short of a brawl after some harsh words were exchanged, resulting in a double disqualification and a reserve team being called up. He preferred far more to stay focused on Shiala, but once the fourteenth round started he suddenly found himself to be extremely thirsty and offered to get some drinks, and was immediately swamped with orders.

After hearing directions from Visali, he headed back out through the locker rooms and down two corridors, muttering to himself. "Watermelon juice for Shiala... Manny wants some melon wine or just melon juice if they don't have wine... Dave wants some milk... Visali asked for some kind of cocktail... uh... what was it called..."

Lost in thought, Marcus rounded a corner and bumped into a turquoise Yoshi, apologising as he stepped aside. As he was just starting to head away, the purple Yoshi called back, "Hey, have you seen a black Yoshi recently? He's my tournament partner and I can't find him anywhere..."

"Sorry, can't help." Marcus replied without thinking, continuing onwards to get the drinks.

* * *

Meanwhile, Manny and Shiala were talking to each other amiably while the current fight continued, though it wasn't of much interest as both fighters were being extremely defensive.

Shiala sighed and continued, "...I don't see what I have to do... I'm trying to please him, but I just don't know how. I mean, I tried all those different things in the clothes shop, and he didn't really display any preference... I thought he might like the black leather or the lace... and I've tried different tacks with him, laying it onto him gently, quickly, somewhere in between... and I've tried to show him that I'm strong..."

"No, no, no, Shiala." Manny answered. "You're thinking this through _too much_. Just go with your impulses, your instincts... plus, if you really want my advice, romanticise him, or if that doesn't work, make him feel guilty."

"I don't want to do that, but I'll see if I can try and be less straightforward..."

"You're doing well, you know. But if you're trying to take it that one step further with him, I'd advise that you give up and wait until _he_ wants to. I've known him for a lot longer than you have, so trust me."

She nodded as Marcus arrived and opened up his saddlebags after handing Manny his change, and started taking out small, rectangular, sealed boxes of things he'd bought at a refreshments stand. "Watermelon juice for Shiala, melon wine for Manny, milk for Dave, spiced wine for Xenly, pineapple juice for me... sorry, Visali, they wouldn't mix you something so I just got you some wine."

"Ah, it's okay." The red-orange Yoshi said, taking the box from Marcus and opening it with his teeth.

A sudden cheer as Marcus sat down made them all look forward; at long last, one team had won and the winners were heading back to the stands, the losers leaving the hall to go sit with the spectators.

"And about time." Manny muttered darkly as he took a sip of his wine. "I thought they'd take all day."

Once more, the blue Birdo stood up and amplified her voice with the _Vocita Maxima_ spell. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've almost finished the first round... we only have two more rounds to go. Our next fight is between two non-university teams. The first team is a pair of male Yoshies, one blue and one brown, Manny Sennet and Marcus 'Yoshi'. Their other team is another couple of male Yoshies, both ex-assassins, one black and one purple, using their call-signs 'Zelva' and 'Vhi-lo'. Our first team is using a shortsword and a flail, and the second team is fighting with... pardon?"

Someone was talking very quickly to the Birdo, and she was nodding every so often, apparently hearing an update of some kind. Marcus also saw Sira running up to them, and she stopped by Visali just as the Birdo started to call out again.

"It seems that the second team is missing... and that the black Yoshi from earlier is one member of the team. The remaining team member is automatically disqualified... bad luck to him. In that case, we shall progress onto the final fight in the first round..."

Sira started speaking to Visali then, and Marcus could only barely hear her. "Like she said, that black Yoshi was a tournament contender... and an assassin. I don't know what you've gotten into, but it seems someone is after you... maybe more than one person, as we found a tiny, poison-laced puncture mark on his nose. Someone wants you dead, from the looks of things."

Visali swallowed heavily. "Thanks, Sira... I'll watch out from now on."

"Please do that." She said, giving him a pat on the shoulder, before running back down to the other magi-medicine students.

_There's something strange about all this..._ Visali thought to himself as the fight began below. _I wonder if it's at all connected to the assassin that slew my parents... or maybe Xenly, she's an assassin, too..._

* * *

After the final fight ended and a quick break was called, Marcus saw the blue Birdo take down the entry forms of the losers from the tournament board, and shuffle the remaining ones before putting them back up in a random order. After checking the new order, she stood back up on the stage and shouted, "We are now down to sixteen teams for the second round, meaning another eight matches in this round. Bets are now closed once more until the round is over. Our first matchup is Maria Slikan and Gemma Mortir against Marcus 'Yoshi' and Manny Sennet, who haven't actually fought yet. Let's see what they can do..."

"I'll go first." Manny said, as they left the stands and headed down to the ring, closely followed by their opponents, still dressed in their veils. Marcus stood on the outside of the ring with one hand on the ropes and the other holding his flail, and Manny took up his position in the corner of the arena, facing the blue Yoshi who was holding her whip in one hand and resting her other hand on her hip.

Once the bell rang, Manny held up his sword defensively, and his opponent half-closed one eye in a questioning look, as neither of them moved for a moment. Manny then took a cautious step forward, quickly swinging his sword as she tried to whip him, and knocking away the whip as he quickly held his sword defensively again. Suddenly, she whipped at him and caught the edge of his leg, and he gave a stifled cry as he winced.

"Did you like that?" she taunted, "There's plenty more if that's what you're into..."

Manny narrowed his eyes and leapt forwards, narrowly missing her with a subsequent sideways slash, taking another step forwards to attack but instead receiving a whip across the face and stumbling backwards in a brief panic.

"Come on, is that all you have to offer?" she said sneeringly, striking out with the whip again but missing him as he jumped to one side. When she whipped him again, he raised his sword and caught the whip on it, whereupon the end wrapped around Manny's sword and Maria pulled backwards, almost taking the sword right out of Manny's hands. He pulled back furiously and dragged her forwards, but she regained her footing and strained to pull away, becoming locked in a tug-of-war with her opponent until the end of the whip finally slid off of the sword.

Taking a chance, Manny lunged forwards and slashed at Maria, only just catching her front and succeeding only in cutting open part of her silk garment, exposing her chest and some of her coloured skin. Quickly stepping backwards, she called out, "Oh, is that how you want to fight? Two can play at that game, you know..."

Before Manny's eyes, she slowly stripped off her headdress, removed the veil over her mouth and nose, and gave him a seductive wink, starting to slowly step towards him, inching forward ever so slowly as she swished her hips from side to side...

"Manny, look out!" Marcus shouted, but it was too late; while he was distracted by her actions, she brought up her whip and caught him across the face, using the momentum to bring the whip around and down in the opposite direction, carving a cross-shaped welt into his nose. She then leapt up into the air and came down on him, kicking her legs, and he fell down to the platform with a grunt. Maria jumped off of him and whipped his chest twice while he was on the floor, making him shout in pain, and after she gave him another three solid whips, plus a painful-sounding firm lash to his tail, he started pounding on the floor and cried, "I give up! I give up! I surrender!"

"Sissy." Marcus muttered to himself as the bell rang to signal an interlude while a whimpering yet dry-eyed Manny was picked up and carried off, and Marcus climbed up and into the ring. Maria quickly snatched her discarded clothes up with her tongue, pulled them towards her, peeled them off her tongue and put them back on as Marcus took up a defensive stance, until the bell rang once more to start the next part of the fight.

Pouncing, Marcus swung his flail at her chest and narrowly missed as she bent back, rolling off to one side to avoid her counterattack, before leaping up from the floor and swinging at her back. Missing by a fraction of an inch, he took a whip lash to his right arm, wincing as he quickly stepped off to one side to avoid a second whipping. When she whipped at him once more he caught it on his flail, and though the end wrapped around it, he kept a firm hold and tried to pull away just as Manny had. Maria pulled back quite forcefully until she noticed that Marcus was grinning, but didn't have time to react before he whipped her with his tongue, catching her off guard. She stumbled back and lost her grip just enough for Marcus to pull the whip away from her, picking it up and holding it triumphantly as she gave a sigh and left the ring.

Confidently, Marcus held his ground as Gemma stepped over the ropes, but once the bell rang, she leapt up into the air and kicked at him, almost hitting him as he only managed to dodge to the side at the last possible moment. She landed hard on the ring floor and swung her whip at him, but he ducked, and though he was unable to recover in time for the upcoming downward swing, Gemma's aim was off and she hit the leather top of his saddle. Taking advantage of the miss, Marcus jumped forwards while she was pulling her whip back, hitting her across the chest with his the flail balls. The spikes tore strips out of her clothing but didn't hurt her very much, and she kicked him away with a quick strike to his chest, before stepping back quickly and taking aim with another lash that struck one of Marcus's legs.

He stepped away from her and, once more, attempted to get the balls of his flail spinning around the end of the handle, but failing yet again, much to his distress. Abandoning the attempt as he dodged another whip from Gemma, he took a large step forward and swung for her head, succeeding only in tearing the veil off her nose and cutting a very shallow wound into her flesh. With an enraged roar, she swung wildly at him, striking him three times in a flurry of attacks before she missed and hit the floor, upon which Marcus put his foot on the end of the whip and dragged it towards himself.

However, Gemma pulled fiercely and took Marcus's leg out from under him, causing him to stumble backwards. She took a good lash at him, but he almost managed to dodge it and only received a strike to the tip of his tail. Pouncing, he dove onto the ground and slid under her legs, swinging upwards with his flail and nailing her tail, making her cry out and jump off of him, tripping over his legs in the process. She fell to the floor and Marcus quickly rolled over, pinning her down and holding her there until the bell rang to signify that he was victorious.

The brown Yoshi jumped off of his fallen opponent and went over the ropes to see Manny, who promptly gave him a firm backslap and almost knocked him to the ground. "Great work, man! That panned out just like Visali's fight..."

"The hotshot went down first?" Marcus quipped, and Manny went slightly red.

"That's not what I meant, but... whatever. Let me go get these whip welts healed before we go back to the stands..."

"Hey, wait up!" came a voice from behind them, and they turned around to find themselves face-to-face with their opponents.

"Nice work beating us... come see us at our club sometime." Maria said, handing Manny a small scrap of Vaell that appeared to be a business card.

"We'll give you a discount." Gemma added, and the two of them left the hall together.

Marcus saw a smile creep onto Manny's face, and the blue Yoshi muttered, "Now that's what I call a victory prize..."

* * *

Visali watched in an absent-minded manner while thoughts raced through his head, listening only for his name.

_Who killed that assassin? Was it his companion? Another assassin?_

His gaze travelled past Marcus, Shiala and Manny, to where Xenly was sitting motionless, her gaze fixed on the ring below. _She wasn't here when that happened... it's suspicious... with all these assassins around, are any of them likely to be the one who murdered my parents?_

He looked back down to his quadra spear, which he had laid on the floor for now. _Will this be enough for me when the time finally comes? Will it be good enough to earn me victory?_

He then focused on Sira, who was watching the match intently in case she needed to intervene. _I don't want to lose her... however, I made a vow, and I can't just forget that... but an assassin... there's a good chance I could die, but still..._

Xenly and Shiala shuffled past him as their names were called, and the red-orange Yoshi spotted Xenly's saddlebags still strapped to her back. _Why is she still wearing those? Does she never go anywhere without her equipment?_

_The answers will come when they want to..._

**_To be continued..._**


	36. Chapter Thirty Five: The God Of Knowledg...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 35 = The God of Knowledge and Wisdom**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Xenly went first again, sending Shiala to the ringside, facing her new opponent; 'Mixel Varvelle' a redheaded human with a tan wielding a strange-looking sword with a complete U-shaped curve to the blade, going back on itself though a half-circle. His team-mate, 'Alaide Letton', a pale blonde man with a scar on his right cheek, was wielding a duplicate of the sword, but currently was on the outside of the ring, waiting for his turn.

Once the bell rang, both contenders rushed forward and met each other with a clang of steel, before pushing away and stepping back a bit. Xenly swung hard with both swords and got a solid hit on the blade, but Mixel swung up away from the pincer attack and swung down again, narrowly missing Xenly as she sidestepped it. She then tried a triple attack, swinging with her left sword, then the right, then kicking out, but both attacks were blocked and the kick missed, and Mixel took the opportunity to make a swing for her, skimming her arm as she frantically dodged.

Trying a different tack, Xenly jumped to the side before leaping forwards, but she was knocked back in midair with a well-aimed slash, and landed on her back before rolling backwards and springing to her feet to recover. Bringing up her swords to repel an attack, her adversary slipped below her guard at the last moment and brought his sword up, hooking her swords with the curve on his, and pulling them towards himself. She managed to separate the blades and jump back far enough to slap Shiala's outstretched hand, before hurriedly switching places with her.

The red feral quickly dodged a slash by rolling to her left, then brought up her dagger to stop another one, and speedily stepped out of the way of a third attack, taking note of his pattern as she watched him. _He never makes a horizontal slash with that thing... maybe I can use that to my advantage..._

Jumping up and away from a stabbing attack, she rebounded off the ropes and started running around the human with great speed, keeping just beyond his reach as he turned and tried to attack her, but couldn't keep her in his sights. Suddenly, he stopped turning to prevent himself from getting dizzy, and Shiala brought the blade of the knife up to the back of his neck, shouting, "Surrender!"

However, he ducked down and avoided a subsequent stab, before kicking out behind him and catching her leg, bringing her down to the ground. Panicking, she rolled to one side to avoid the path of another downwards swipe, before bringing the knife up just as he ran over to her, and catching him in the stomach. The blade didn't go in very deep, but he quickly pulled away and clutched at the wound, before dropping his sword, falling to his knees, and groaning. Shiala got to her feet and the magi-medicine students quickly fired several spells at him, but he continued to clutch at his stomach for a moment before throwing up on the ring floor.

"What's wrong with him?" came a voice from behind Shiala, but it was in the common tongue and she didn't understand it. However, the reaction of the human made her suspicious, and she thought aloud, "Poison... there must be poison on here..."

Hearing this, Sira stepped up to the ring and cried, "_Oralia Purgoria_!"

Mixel immediately stopped groaning and opened his eyes, before being escorted off of the ring while Shiala wiped the blood off of the blade. A brief interlude was called while the ring was cleaned up, during which Shiala switched places with Xenly again. The white assassin took a look at her new enemy; he was big and bulky, and certainly seemed to have experienced many battles, but Xenly noticed that his hands were shaking slightly as he held his blade up and ran a finger along the inside curve.

The blue Birdo rang the bell, and again, both competitors leapt forwards and came together with the sound of steel against steel, though Xenly's blades slipped on the smooth curve of Alaide's sword. This left her open for a forward stab attack, and though she managed to step back far enough to avoid a large wound, the sharp blade opened a shallow cut down her chest, and she gritted her teeth as she ignored the twinge of pain.

In a counterattack move, Xenly stepped off to one side and swung one sword to keep her opponent's weapon in place, while swinging the other for his body, but he was able to move the sword so that both swords were caught on different parts of the U-shaped curve. Hesitant to switch with Shiala again, Xenly made a stab with one sword before retreating, missing only by inches as her adversary twisted his body away from her, before striking out and missing with his own attack. Alaide surprised her by following up with another attack, leaping forwards to reach her, but with lightning reflexes she knocked his blade away and swung with her own, clipping the edge of his free arm as he quickly lowered it.

With agility much like Shiala's, Xenly jumped back and planted her feet on the top rope, before jumping forwards and passing straight over Alaide, landing on her feet behind him and turning on the point of her shoe. She brought both swords up to his neck as he started to turn, and though a frantic swipe with his sword intercepted one, the other lightly touched the back of his neck and Xenly held it there firmly.

"Surrender?" she asked, bringing her other sword over and touching the cold steel to his throat.

He swallowed heavily, shaking slightly, before stammering, "Y-Y-Yes..." very quietly and nervously.

The bell rang one final time as Xenly took her swords down and sheathed them on her back, heading over to Shiala without getting the cut on her chest healed.

"It's just a scratch." She casually replied when Shiala asked her about it, as they headed back to the competitor's stands...

* * *

"Okay, Visali," Manny said as Xenly and Shiala rejoined them, "I can't hold this back any longer. I know you probably get this a lot, but how on Chyrus did you do that to your skin?"

"My red colouring? It wasn't an accident... part of a project for the class that Darcen is in... it's how I got to know him. A Yoshi's skin colour, or a Birdo's for that matter, is the result of a mixture of skin pigments produced by the body... it's kind of like mixing paint."

"Red, blue, yellow?" Marcus asked, stopping his translation for Shiala temporarily, and Visali nodded in confirmation.

"It's random... it's nothing to do with parentage."

"I'd always wondered about that." Xenly interjected. "My parents were both black Yoshies, yet I was white..."

Visali continued, "There's a concentration of those made by the body, and the way they're mixed up determines your colour. If you ever take an extremely shallow cut on a coloured part of your body, you may only see these pigments leaking out, rather than blood. Your body will replace the lost pigment if you ever take an injury. However, -and here's the clever part,- your body won't make any more of it if none of the pigment has been lost, so the level remains stable. Anyway, Darcen and some friends of his found a way to make artificial pigment... we've got a whole store of it in lab five. He wanted someone to test it on, and, well... I volunteered. He somehow managed to inject it in perfectly here on my nose, but there wasn't enough to completely change my skin colour... leaving me like this. He said I could have another one on my tail to fix it, but I think this looks cool, so I opted to keep it like it is. Of course, if I ever take a cut on a coloured bit of my body, the orange colour will return in that spot... oh well."

Dave cut in, "They're planning to market it once they finish the project... they're still trying to find a way to make lots of it really cheaply. I think it's a great idea, though..."

Aside from Marcus and Shiala, they all turned their attention at that point to another fight starting below them. Shiala nudged Marcus and whispered to him, "Want to go get some fresh air... and privacy?"

"Sure." He whispered back, turning to Manny. "Hey, Manny, we're just going for a walk... we won't go far, maybe the courtyard. If by chance it goes to the next round, come find us."

"Gotcha." Manny replied, turning and nodding once before looking back to the ring and watching the fight continue.

* * *

As soon as they got outside and Marcus caught a breath of fresh air, Shiala grabbed his arm and hauled him over to the statue of Tivaro. Nobody was around; either everyone was watching the tournament or in their normal lessons, and Marcus couldn't see anybody looking out from the windows.

"Marcus," she said as they reached the front of the statue, "I want to test something... take out your octagram for a moment."

Marcus hesitated before complying, reaching into his saddlebags and removing the shiny golden octagram, holding it in the light, watching carefully as the light danced across the three gems. "Shiala, what..." he started, but she cut him off.

"Just try this... I want to see if we can invoke one of these encounters, rather than waiting it for it to occur... hold it up so the hole just after Vizorvy's is facing upwards, and say, 'meet with me, lord of knowledge, god of wisdom'."

"Where did you learn that?"

"It's mythology from the previous bearer of an octagram... just try it."

Marcus shrugged to himself, before adjusting the octagram and holding it up with both hands. "Meet with me," he called out to the statue, "Lord of knowledge, God of wisdom!"

Nothing happened for a moment, and Marcus was about to give up, before a bright, stabbing, orange light shot out from the whole, and Marcus's vision went white as he fell unconscious. Shiala ran to his side and caught him as he fell, holding him in her arms and over her lap.

"Now I just have to wait..." she murmured to herself. "Please be okay, Marcy..."

* * *

As Marcus's vision returned, he found himself standing in front of a shocked orange Yoshi with reddish fins, hovering above the ground with his feet back, and a large, leather-bound tome under his left arm. He simply stared at Marcus as the brown Yoshi shook his head to clear it from the sudden loss of consciousness, before staring back at the orange Yoshi.

"How did you... why did you... you're not supposed to be here yet!" Tivaro blurted out, sputtering with what seemed to be a mix of confusion and rage. "Miyala said that Laryshka would see you next, not me!"

"I invoked this meeting." Marcus replied casually, as though it were of little importance.

"But... this isn't... you..." Tivaro started, before taking a deep breath and slowly calming down. "Okay... then, tell me what you want to know, or why you started this meeting..."

Marcus was about to say, 'I didn't think it would really work', but thought better of it and instead asked, "I want to know everything. I want to know why I'm involved in your plans, what I'm doing, and why you keep telling me how the fate of the world is in my hands, because the world can just go mate with itself for all I care."

"I can't tell you everything... but... well, it is my duty to explain, which is why you're not meant to be here yet. However, as you are here and you have discovered how to invoke a meeting, I suppose I should tell you... sit down, this is going to be long."

Marcus sat on the cold floor, shivering as his underside made contact with it, looking up at the god as he opened the tome, which somehow gave an eerie light from its pages.

"Marcus Charris, you-"

"Wait, what?"

"That's your name... your full name. Marcus Charris."

"Seriously? That... that's my name? My actual, real, surname?"

"Yes!" Tivaro snapped, irritably.

"I see... Karshina said something about... right... okay, carry on..."

Tivaro cleared his throat before starting again, seemingly reading from the pages of the book. "You are an important piece in a large plan that has been proceeding uninterrupted for centuries... everything has been going according to this plan, until recently. You were meant to simply grow up in your hometown, marry Alziana and have a few children... but something changed all that."

"Yes... her death."

"No, that's an effect, not a cause... you see, for centuries, we seven deities have held Klashkna back, keeping him sealed with our powers. But, gods get their powers from their believers... and the belief of our followers is being outweighed by the power of the demons and creatures of the underworld. Klashkna now has enough power to break away from time to time... but he cannot do much damage. He used Foryo as a pawn to carry out his dirty work for him, as Foryo is neither human nor demon, but a creature of darkness in disguise... Klashkna intended to kill you, but equally, removing Alziana destroyed our plans just as effectively. But as you grow closer to Shiala, we are still in with a chance... and as soon as he sees that, he will make another move, so be wary..."

"Shiala... is she in danger?"

"Not right now, but very soon... however, Klashkna would sooner turn you to his side than destroy you, and he is bound to try and do so, which is why we had Vizorvy tell you the message he gave. We need you to eliminate Foryo before taking on Klashkna, for the new future that is panning out requires certain events that take place in his castle..."

"But why me?"

"Your bloodline was nothing to do with this until feral genes were added to it... yes, your great-grandfather, as I'm sure you have guessed, was a feral... that's all you need to know. Feral heritage is important for something we won't inform you of for your own safety, and this would be even more powerful if you were to mate with Shiala rather than Alziana. Have you heard of the great legend of the octotheist religion?"

"I think so... about Sévar?"

"Yes... Sévar would have been one of your descendants if Alziana and you had lived, but that's been changed. We still hold hope of salvaging you and the future, but the chances of that happening are reduced. However, you are the only hope we have, which is why we're resorting to the drastic measures of making you a 'saviour' with that octagram, and revealing ourselves to you as we have been doing."

"It makes sense..."

"The task at hand remains for you to find and destroy Foryo, for he cannot be killed, as he is not living..."

"Wait, a zombie?"

"Worse... a vampire. Escaped from the underworld thanks to Klashkna's magic, he walks the land of Chyrus once more... I had intended to tell you this before you met him, but not this long before, as I also need to tell you that you cannot kill him with any normal weapon... you need something made from pure silver, blessed by Laryshka, and only that will deliver a mortal wound to drive him back to the underworld, powerless and reduced to nothing."

"I see... so that's how I can achieve vengeance..."

"However, you must get there first. It's coming down to something big soon between him and us... we need you still on our side at the end of it. Expect to see the other three deities in the near future, and we will prepare you should you meet Klashkna. It's time for you to return..."

"Wait!" Marcus called out, getting to his feet. "Before I go... one last question..."

"Yes?"

Marcus took a deep breath, and slowly asked, "I've already lost Alziana, Karin, and Laen... who else will I lose?"

Tivaro bit his lip nervously, and lowly murmured, "...I cannot tell you that... too much knowledge is a bad thing..."

Before Marcus could protest, he blacked out once more and came back to the world, clutched tightly in Shiala's loving arms. He gave a low groan and she hugged him tighter from behind, resting her head on his shoulder and rubbing it against his.

"Did it work?" She asked after a moment, and Marcus held up the octagram, noting a bright orange gem in the next hole along from Vizorvy's.

"Yes... it worked..." he murmured sadly, recalling most of the things Tivaro had said. "But I wish it hadn't... I learned a few things I'd rather not have done..."

"Don't worry, I'll be here for you." She said.

"Oh, however..." Marcus remembered, "He said that my surname is Charris... sounds a lot better than 'Yoshi', a dead giveaway that there's illegitimacy in my family..."

She giggled and whispered, "Marcy Charry..."

With a laugh, he replied, "Hey, if you call me that in front of anyone else, I'll..."

"You'll what?" She asked teasingly, and he smirked, replying, "I'll... I'll... I don't know, actually..."

She chuckled and hugged him again, and he smiled. "Thanks, Shiala... you always make my problems go away..."

**_To be continued..._**


	37. Chapter Thirty Six: Fallen Saviour

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 36 = Fallen Saviour**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

A storm was raging outside the stone walls of Foryo's castle, throwing rain, wind, and even the occasional lightning bolt through the air in the destructive way that nature wreaks havoc on what it chooses. The dark grey clouds cast darkness down upon the land around the castle, lit only when lightning flashed across the sky, otherwise keeping up a perpetual rainfall upon the castle and surrounding forest.

Inside, protected by barred and shuttered windows, Foryo was sitting by candlelight in front of his crystal ball, trying but failing to locate his target once more. Only inky darkness swirled within the crystal, a sure sign that either Marcus was dead... or something was interfering with his scrying attempt.

Once more, he held his hands a few inches above the crystal ball, dimly illuminated by the candles, and concentrated on his target, the little brown Yoshi he had been ordered to kill by the one who had freed him from the prison of the underworld...

Just as his thoughts passed by Klashkna, the red Yoshi god himself appeared inside the crystal, stepping forward from the swirling black mist. The perspective seemed to zoom in a little more so that only his head was shown, distorted through the curvature of the crystal, much like a fisheye lens.

"My servant..." Klashkna said, addressing Foryo. His voice had a very nasal, sneering tone to it, cruel and vindictive, and he spoke in a very sharp manner, his sentences coming to an end with a sudden raise in tone.

"I believe I have been successful. I sent a dragon after the target, and I cannot find him anywhere."

"No, no, he is alive." Klashkna hissed. "However... do not attempt to kill him again... let him come to you, so you can take care of him... personally."

Foryo smiled broadly, exposing two long fangs protruding from the top of his mouth, in place of the canine teeth that were normally located there. "As you wish, master. He shall suffer more pain than any man has ever felt..."

"Do not fail me again." Klashkna warned, narrowing his gaze. "I hardly need tell you what will happen if you get sent back..."

"I am immortal." Foryo replied calmly. "The sun does not shine here. He cannot hurt me without a magical weapon... and how is he to know that he needs one, let alone find one?"

"Those other deities may interfere... but that is my business. I have a plan that I shall start when the opportunity presents itself... but if that fails, I'm counting on you to eliminate him."

"Gladly." Foryo said, running his tongue over his fangs. "I have plans for his friends, too, if any of them remain alive by the time he gets here..."

* * *

Marcus and Shiala were just heading back to the stands as they bumped into Manny, who immediately waved for them to follow him back. "Where were you? No, wait, never mind... I have a good idea, and now isn't the time. Visali had his fight and it's gone to the quarter-finals... and once the break is over, it's you and me against Xenly and Shiala!"

"Wait, what?" Marcus asked as they made it back to the stands. "We're against Xenly... and Shiala...?"

Manny nodded as they sat back down. "I'll go first, and so will Xenly... I know you don't want to fight Shiala, but really, neither of you can get hurt... Sira and all the others are there in case you do. It's not a big thing!"

"Okay..." Marcus sighed. "I should've known that this might happen..."

Shiala, however, didn't seem the least bit worried. "I won't hurt you very much, Marcy... just a nice submission hold for you."

"Don't you dare throw the match." Manny said firmly. "I'm serious! Just give it your best shot, that's all I'm asking, and don't you dare throw it for her safety! She's probably in less danger than you..."

"Oh, that does it." Marcus snapped. "I'll take them both down... and then you as well once we're outside, just to prove that I can!"

"Hey, hey, hey, no need for overkill. Just bringing down the girls will be fine."

"I'm afraid, boys..." Shiala taunted, "Your numbers are up. You're going to suffer the full female wrath, and it's not a pretty sight."

Marcus reached over with one hand and scratched the underside of her nose. "Too bad; I've seen it all before. You don't scare me."

"Ha! You'll be scared when your ankles are behind your head!" was the comeback, before leaning forward to him and whispering, "If you let me win, I'll do anything you want later on, once we're back at the hotel..."

"What? No!" Marcus stuttered, apparently shocked. "If anything, now I'm even _more_ motivated to win!"

"Hey, it was a joke!" She protested, clinging to his arm. "I wasn't serious..."

"I sincerely hope so." Marcus muttered darkly, before turning away from her.

_Oh, great, nice move, Shiala..._ the red feral thought to herself._ Now look what you've done. You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?_

At that moment, the blue Birdo's voice rang out from the centre of the hall. "Ladies and gentlemen, the quarter-finals are now beginning... bets are closed until the next break. We shall proceed with the first match, which, as we stated earlier, is between two non-university teams. We have Marcus 'Yoshi' and Manny Sennet up against Shiala Filassa and 'Xenly'. If the competitors would like to come down from the stands, we can start..."

The four of them stood up and shuffled past Visali and Dave, as well as a few other people, to the end of the row and down the stairs, heading for the ring in the middle of the hall. Manny and Xenly took opposite corners while Marcus and Shiala stayed on the outside of the ring, and Shiala sadly noticed that Marcus was trying to avoid looking at her.

"We've been here before." Manny called out to his opponent. "And you know what happened last time, don't you?"

"I'd underestimated you that time." Xenly called back. "I've seen you fight several times since then... so be prepared to be scraped off the floors for the next few days!"

Manny was about to retort when the bell rang, and he jumped to one side to avoid Xenly's predictable leap forwards, making a counterattack as his feet touched the ground. She easily blocked it with one sword and stabbed forward with the other, missing Manny by a considerable margin as he bent back out of the way.

_If I can get rid of one sword like I did last time... that might even the odds..._

Manny made a quick slice for her wrist, failed to hit his target, and as a result he had to quickly spring away to keep out of the path of the sharpened edges of Xenly's blades. With one hand, he swung his sword downwards, and she caught it on her swords in an X-like formation that she frequently used. With his free hand, the blue Yoshi made a grab for her right sword, but she backed off as soon as she noticed and stood still for a moment, her swords held defensively. He faked an attack, and she made a counterattack that missed considerably as he ran to one side and made a swipe for her, which she blocked with her left sword. Deftly, Manny kicked it out of her hands and into the air, catching it by the handle with his left hand, and smirking as she held her remaining sword two-handed.

Unaccustomed to fighting with two swords, Manny found it hard to control the extra sword, though he made several attempts to attack with both of them. Giving up in despair, he took Xenly's sword and jumped back, before dropping it over the edge of the ring, where she wouldn't be able to retrieve it.

Xenly, however, had different plans, and tagged Shiala while Manny was throwing away the sword. Shiala promptly caught a swing from Manny on the blade of her knife, and held it there while Xenly edged around the ringside, snatching up her discarded sword and sheathing it along with her other one. At this, Shiala dipped her knife before pushing upwards, forcing Manny's blade away, and when he made a counterattack, she nimbly stepped out of the way of his stab.

Starting once more on her dextrous evasion routine, Shiala sidestepped a horizontal slash from Manny before jumping back from a vertical swipe. He ran right for her, but she lashed out with her left hand and planted a solid punch to his nose, taking her hand away before his sword swing could remove it. He furiously made a stab and a step forward, cutting as far forward as his arms could reach while she spun away from him, before lunging forward and missing by inches as she ducked his attack.

"Hold still and let me hit you!" He cried, making another attack and failing to hit her. _Stay calm... you can beat her..._

With a grin, Manny faked a stab, then feinted another stab to the other side of her, and leapt forwards while she tried to dodge the attacks that never came. He grinned as drove his sword into her thigh, and she gave a loud shriek of pain that intensified when he pulled the blade out again, falling to all fours as blood poured out of the wound. The moment her hands touched the floor, Sira and the others immediately healed her parallel to the bell being rung, and a saddened Shiala stepped off of the ring, going over the ropes next to Marcus.

He ran up to her as the fight continued behind him, jumping down from the ring as she passed. "Are you hurt? Are you okay? He didn't seriously hurt you, did he?"

"No, no..." she replied, stopping to talk to him. "I'm okay now that they healed me..."

"Get back on the ring!" The blue Birdo shouted to him, and Marcus gave a quick wave. "See you later, Shiala..." he said quietly, turning and jumping back up to the ringside before he got disqualified.

He immediately noticed that he might have a turn in the near future; an enraged Xenly was pummelling Manny's guard with her swords, striking so fast that her arms became blurs, giving a cry every time she struck. He was stumbling back, holding up his sword to deflect the blows, before she suddenly shifted her aim and struck his hand, producing a sickening sound and enough blood to make Marcus close his eyes in disgust.

"My hand!" he head Manny cry. "You've cut off my hand...!"

The next thing Marcus heard was Sira's voice, shouting, "_Oralia Amputorata_!" followed by the sound of Manny panting as he tried to recover from what had just been done to him.

"You're next." Marcus heard Xenly say to him, in a low and malicious tone, as Marcus opened his eyes and saw Manny stumbling off the stage, rubbing his wrist, a little shaken from what had just happened. Someone ran onto the ring and cleaned up a small pool of blood as Marcus climbed over the ropes, before the bell rang once more for the final part of the match to begin.

Almost immediately, Marcus was under a barrage of attacks from Xenly, all of which he had to dodge by ducking, sidestepping, rolling, or jumping away from. In almost no time at all he felt that he had no chance of winning, armed only with his flail and his wits... jumping away once more, he tried the trick he had failed to do so many times; to spin the balls of the flail around the end of the handle.

They spun in a half-circle underneath, swinging back and forth like pendulums, and he was forced to jump to one side as his adversary jumped forwards again. However, once he landed, he tried again... and finally succeeded, getting the balls swinging in a full circle around the flail handle cap.

"I did it!" He muttered to himself, watching in awe. "I finall-"

He was cut short as Xenly attacked him, slashing diagonally in one direction, then the other, cutting an X into his chest. He didn't have time to cry out before she stabbed him four times, making the X into a copy of the symbols on her sword sheaths, before dealing a final blow by delivering a powerful kick with the point of her right shoe that cracked his ribs from the force. Marcus was flung into the air and landed hard on the ring, bouncing once, and didn't stir from his resting place.

After a second or two, Sira and the others healed him, removing the cuts from his chest and repairing his broken ribs as the bell rang to hail Xenly as the victor, and Manny and Shiala jumped up to the platform to check on Marcus, who still hadn't gotten up.

"Marcus... are you okay?" She asked, pulling him up into a sitting position. He didn't respond, and she shook him gently. "Marcus?"

"Shiala..." Manny murmured, "I think... he might be..."

"No!" She cried, dropping Marcus's body. "He isn't! He's not dead!"

Manny put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Look... this may be hard for you, but..."

"He's not dead!" Shiala repeated. "This has happened before... let's take him outside..."

* * *

Up in the stands, Visali was watching very quietly. After a few moments, Dave gave him a prod and inquired, "Are you okay?"

"David."

Dave sensed something was up. "Yes?"

"Did you see that?"

"See what, Visali?"

"Xenly. Did you see what she did?"

"Marcus will live..."

"No, I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about what she did to him. Did you see the cut she gave him?"

"Yeah, it was a little ornate, but so what?"

"That symbol... that symbol was painted on my mother's body in her own blood. In the same place. And the person who killed my parents was a white female Yoshi with two swords. I can't believe I didn't realise this sooner... David."

"Yes?" Dave replied again.

"I have a vow to carry out. Don't follow me."

"Visali..."

"If I die..." Visali said calmly, "...I just want you to know... I couldn't have done this without you. You helped me all the way. Take care of Sira if I lose. But I'll tell you this... I have no intentions of losing. I'm going to avenge my parents."

"Visali..."

"You can't stop me."

"I know that... just... good luck. Don't lose your temper or patience..."

"I won't. I'm going to go do this. Now."

* * *

Manny finally let go of Marcus's legs as they reached the locker room. "Okay, we're here... but I'm telling you, he's dead..."

"And I'm telling you that he's not dead! This has happened before... I want to show you something..."

She ran over to Marcus's locker and opened it, removing his saddlebags and searching through them until she found the octagram. She held it up, and they could both see that in the empty hole next to the black gem, a bright white light was shining forth, surrounded by some kind of mist that distorted the rays of light..

"He's meeting with one of the octotheist deities... Laryshka, from the looks of it..."

Manny was staring, wide-eyed, open-mouthed, and totally speechless as he watched the octagram. "_Marcus_ is a saviour?" He finally forced out. "Of all the people in the whole world, _Marcus_ is the next saviour?"

"Yes... it would seem so... but he's not dead, just suspended..."

"Marcus... my friend... a saviour..."

"He'll be back with us eventually. But, uhm... when he comes to... don't tell him I showed you the octagram, okay?"

"I... okay..."

"I have no idea what the deities have said to him... he lets out little things, like they told him his surname, 'Charris', but aside from that, he flatly refuses to tell me anything..."

"Okay..." Manny repeated. "I won't tell him... but it makes me wonder, now, whether or not our home being destroyed was random or not..."

**_To be continued..._**


	38. Chapter Thirty Seven: It's time to fulfi...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 37 = It's time to fulfil that vow**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Visali strode calmly down the stairs towards Xenly, who was still on the ring waiting along with the blue Birdo to hear about Marcus, and also waiting for Shiala to come back. He made his way over to Sira, his quadra spear in hand, and explained things to her...

* * *

"It all makes sense." Manny muttered. "If he's a saviour, then the gods and many powerful people will know about it... and it explains how he survived my sword through his heart... and everything else... and they took out the Shoreside Village to get him, but didn't take him down..."

Shiala put a gentle hand on his shoulder as they sat next to each other in front of Marcus's body. "He's come this far in good shape... he was in total emotional turmoil when I met him, but now I've helped him get over that... with any luck, we can help him to achieve whatever it is the gods want him to achieve..."

Manny sighed and looked down at Marcus. "I wonder why he didn't tell me... I'm his friend, his best friend... I've known him since we were both kids..."

"Maybe he's not taking it seriously because he's an atheist?"

"That could be... but that's a stupid thing to do..."

* * *

"Xenly!" Visali bellowed as he leapt up onto the platform. He planted one end of the quadra spear into the wooden ring floor, held it at an angle with one hand, and made an offensive gesture with the other.

She narrowed her eyes at him, drawing her swords effortlessly with flourish, standing ready for an attack. "I presume from your manner that you've worked it out?"

"_You killed my parents_!" Visali roared, causing silence to fall across the hall. "You seduced my father enough to get access to my house, before you murdered both of them!"

"Oh, you are very much mistaken." Xenly replied nonchalantly. "It was never my intention to kill them... it was a mistake that your father died. He was meant to live..."

"And you were going to kill me? You... you..." Visali sputtered for a moment, unable to express in words what he wanted to say. After swearing viciously at her, he snarled and continued, "My father loved you... and he thought that you loved him back!"

"But I did!" Xenly protested. "I told you, he wasn't meant to die... when I tried to paralyse him, I used the wrong needle and it killed him instead..."

"_I don't care_! You killed them, and I took a vow to end your life... it's been three years since then, and now I shall fulfil it! Xenly, I challenge you to a fight to the death, and a curse forever be upon you if you try and escape your fate!"

He jumped forwards and attacked, giving a loud Yoshian battle cry as he did, thrusting forwards with the spear and planting a solid strike against her chest. However, even though he saw his spearhead penetrate her skin, she stood there unflinching and laughed at him before disappearing in a small cloud of smoke, and he spun around as he heard her feet land on the floor behind him, spotting her standing with her swords sheathed and her arms folded.

"Nice try, Visali, but you fell for an old assassin illusion... let's see if you can get past every trick I know, and I'll warn you now, I've got a fair few moves to pull..."

She muttered something in an ancient tongue, older than Old Yoshi, and her body flickered for a moment before several images of her fanned out and surrounded Visali in a circle. He pounced for one to the right of him, but as he struck it, it fazed out and vanished, along with all the others except for the real Xenly, who had been behind him. As he leapt for her she threw a shuriken in his direction, but a quick swing of his spear knocked it away and it landed on the floor as she dodged another attack from him.

"_Khiya Koysin_!" she shouted, leaping up into the air and vanishing in a flash of light. Wary of a trap, Visali took his spear and stabbed behind him, hearing a gasp and feeling resistance as his weapon struck home. Whirling around, he spotted Xenly holding a hand against her left arm, which was oozing blood from a gash on the top of it, but she seemed otherwise okay.

"Don't heal them!" Sira ordered, and the magi-medicine students paused in mid-spellcasting, before sitting back down and watching the showdown continue.

"Very nicely done... but I'm not through with you yet. _Schisa Skosi_!"

She raised the fingers of her right hand to the side of her head, before thrusting her arm forward and sending a smallish bolt of energy towards him, which struck him on the nose and knocked him back a little, though he remained standing.

"Impressive..." she admitted, before speedily pulling a handful of needles out of her saddlebags. She threw them all at once, and Visali quickly spun his spear around in front of him, catching all of the needles in the shaft of the spear, bar for one that pierced his left index finger. Pulling it out quickly, he took up a defensive stance again, but suddenly was overcome by the powerful sleeping toxin the needle had injected into him, and fell backwards onto the floor...

"You lose." Xenly jeered, before slashing through his throat.

"On the contrary..." Visali replied, unaffected by the bloodless injury, "This fight is far from over."

He faded out before her eyes and his spear fell to the ground, and she started scanning the area around her, before she heard his voice again. "You aren't the only one who can cast illusions... Sira is quite an accomplished magic user, I'll have you know..."

Sprinting out from underneath the ring, he backflipped up into the air, turned through a half-circle, and landed firmly on the ring floor, snatching up his spear with his tongue and pulling it towards him. With a single sweep of his arm, he knocked all of the needles out of the wood and onto the floor, before standing still once more.

"Enough of this, assassin. Enough of the games and illusions. Let's settle this right here and now... so you can die relatively honourably."

"Oh, and miss out on my fun? I don't think so." She said, goading him while she held her swords up to the ceiling. "_Flito Foya_!"

This time, her body faded out and her weapons appeared to hover in midair, and Visali could tell that it was some kind of invisibility spell... but not one he couldn't get past, as the air shimmered in places around her body. She stepped forwards and swung for him, but he caught the attack on his spear handle, swinging it around to catch another attack, and bringing up his leg to stop her follow-up kick from reaching him. She jumped away from him before leaping forward again, with one foot in front of her aimed for his chest, putting enough power behind the attack that it could break his sternum and crush his heart, killing him easily, but he held the spear level with one end aimed towards her, and the spearhead cut open the side of her nose, causing her attack to miss.

Panting, she vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared, fully visible, at the other end of the ring, waiting for him to attack. With a snort, he flicked a catch on the side of the spear, and the spearheads slid out once more on the ends of chains, dangling a few inches out from the ends of the handle. Running forwards, he swung one end of the spear towards her, and when she blocked it with a sword, the spearhead continued around and cut a shallow wound into her shoulder. Smirking, Visali angled his spear and swung it in a half-circle, kicking away the sword she tried to block it with, and the spearhead tore open a wide gash into her chest, which started to bleed profusely.

Panicking, Xenly stepped back again, but Visali didn't give her time to reform her strategy before thrusting the spear at her, striking her leg like a whip with the chained spearhead, and she once again vanished, appearing on the corner post. Quickly, Visali pushed the two spearheads back onto the end of the spear, where they locked into place, before hoisting it up and holding it on his shoulder, pulling back on a small catch on the side of the spear.

Releasing it, the catch released a powerful spring inside the spear and shot half of it straight for Xenly like a crossbow bolt at such as speed that she was unable to avoid it. It buried itself in her chest, puncturing one of her lungs and knocking her off of the corner post, making her fall backwards and land on the floor just beyond the ring.

Feebly, she pulled the spear out of her chest and flung it aside, getting to her feet as Visali jumped over the ropes and headed for her. She sheathed her swords and reached into her saddlebags with one hand, holding the other over the wound on her chest, and pulled a small, glass orb out from her bags, with some kind of grey mist swirling around inside of it.

Struggling to speak with the damaged lung, she forced out, "Well met... but I'm so sorry, Visali. I won't join your parents just yet..."

She flung the orb down to the floor, where it burst open and instantly caused a huge cloud of smoke to engulf her, Visali, and a good portion of the rest of the hall. Coughing as he stumbled out of the smoke cloud, Visali cursed her for her cowardice, but heard a window breaking on the far side of the hall, and looked up just in time to see the gravely wounded assassin escaping.

Intent on finishing what he'd started, Visali raced after her, leaping through the broken window with both halves of his spear in hand, forcing the spearheads back into the shafts as he ran so that he could combine them. She was leaving a trail of blood spots on the concrete slabs that formed a pavement, and he followed them, hoping she would collapse before she could get too much of a lead...

He followed the blood spots out of the University grounds and out into the street, past many people who, judging by their expressions, had just seen Xenly go past them. He trailed her to an alleyway entrance, where the trail suddenly stopped, and he kept on his guard as he started down the alleyway, walking cautiously. He heard a cry from a turning up ahead, and followed it, getting ever closer to what he was sure was his target...

Then, the white Yoshi ran out in front of him, holding her swords in her hands, her wounds still open, and she turned just in time to see him leap up into the air and plunge his spear through her heart, spurting blood out from the wound in a sudden torrent. She collapsed and fell onto her back, with blood coming from her mouth, and she coughed once before whispering, "Why me...?"

Pulling his spear out from her chest, Visali watched in satisfaction as her eyelids slowly closed and she stopped breathing, before her red-finned head slumped to one side, and her life ceased to be. Visali spat on Xenly's dead body, poking it with his foot to make sure it wasn't an illusion, before casting one final gaze to the female Yoshi, then walking off, his vengeance achieved...

**_To be continued..._**


	39. Chapter Thirty Eight: War And Power, Tim...

**Cursed Yoshi**

****

**Chapter 38 = War and Power, Time and Space**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: The wednesday update is no more as of today, as I have to go back to school next week. Sunday updates only from now on!_

Groaning, Marcus heaved himself up off of the stone cold floor, taking some comfort from the fact that being here in a meeting with one of the deities probably meant that he wasn't dead. Getting to his feet, he looked up and focused on the white Yoshi in front of him, who was hovering with her feet back like the others did, and was carrying two longswords. Her eyelashes were fairly long, and if it hadn't been for the distinct lack of clothing and different swords he could have easily mistaken her for Xenly.

"I heard from Tivaro." She said flatly. "It was… very _bold_ of you to summon a meeting like that, but be aware that in future, it's up to us whether to grant that meeting or not."

"Whatever. Say your speech and let me go back."

"Softly, softly, Marcus." She replied. "Tivaro told you, I presume, that in order to defeat Foryo, you need a silver weapon blessed by myself…"

"Yes, something along those lines."

She pointed one of the swords at him. "If you can find a blade of silver, I'll enchant it, but you must prove yourself by obtaining either a sword like that, or enough silver to forge such a weapon yourself. Consider it a test of sorts."

"Meh… easy enough." Marcus said with a shrug.

"Are you taking me lightly, mortal?" She asked, half-closing one eye and giving him a questioning look.

"Well, why not?" He remarked, and sorely regretted it.

With an indignant snort and a wave of her hand, Laryshka blasted him with an immense amount of some kind of energy, making his skin sear and filling his head with a painful ringing noise. When she let up, he collapsed onto the ground and panted, trying to force himself out of the encounter in his mind, but failing to do so.

"Remember who you're dealing with… and who you're ultimately up against. We gods don't take lightly to atheists… and I assure you that Klashkna will change your mind about being light-hearted, should you ever have the misfortune to meet him. Get up."

Grudgingly, Marcus got to his feet and narrowed his eyes at Laryshka in contempt, clenching his fists in indignation. "Now listen to me, Marcus. All seven of us are counting on you to not succumb to the whims of Klashkna… you still have Miyala and Eirsir to meet, and they will prepare you in the event of an encounter with Klashkna… if you die or give in to the will of the darkness, all is lost, and Klashkna knows that. He would prefer to make you a pawn of his and use your power for his own devices, but he'll kill you if it comes to that…"

"What power have I got?" Marcus asked. "I'm just a regular Yoshi with nothing special about me except for some weird eye outlines. Why would I be of any use in some great plan?"

"As Tivaro told you, you possess a great power that we won't inform you of for your own safety…"

"My safety? Why would it be for _my_ safety?"

Laryshka paused long enough for Marcus to grow suspicious, and he continued, "Maybe it's not for my safety… but for yours? Is this power so great that if I knew of it, I could rule the world? Would I be able to overpower the gods themselves? If I knew of it when I met with Klashkna, would he be able to take it from me and use it himself?"

"Shut up!" Laryshka roared, swinging her swords for him in anger. Just as the blades were about to come into contact with Marcus's neck, there was a bright flash, and everything stopped dead…

* * *

"He's been out for a while…" Manny murmured.

"Yeah…" Shiala concurred, "It's longer than he's ever been with them before…"

Manny picked up Marcus's saddlebags and looked inside of them again, pulling out the octagram with a gasp and showing it to Shiala. Between the purple gem and the whitish light, there was now a brown light shining from the gap, distorted by mist much like the white one…

* * *

Marcus stood where he was with his arms up, braced for an attack, but when the attack never came, he opened his eyes and lowered his arms to see Laryshka frozen in time in front of him, held in mid-lunge by some mystical force. Nervously, Marcus stepped back out of the path of her swords, and started to walk away before spotting another figure in a spotlight just off to one side.

A brown Yoshi was hovering above the floor, her skin a bit darker than Marcus's, and she was holding her right hand flat with an hourglass balanced on the back of her hand, and Marcus was astounded to see the sand in the glass flowing upwards rather then downwards. Upon closer inspection as she came closer to him, walking a few inches above the floor, he could see that the sand was also frozen in time, but the direction of the sand still indicated that it was flowing upwards.

"A lesson for you, Marcus." Miyala said calmly, gesturing with her left hand towards the frozen Laryshka. "When you lose your temper, you leave yourself open to attack from anyone."

Miyala snapped her fingers, and the sand in the hourglass began to flow again, while Laryshka continued on her attack, striking only empty air.

"Now now, Laryshka…" Miyala scolded as the white goddess regained herself and cast a hateful glare over to Marcus, "It's not good to try and kill the next saviour, is it? Particularly when you've just finished telling him how much he means to our plans…"

Laryshka gave a resentful grunt of acknowledgement, before raising her swords up into the air, touching the tips together, and vanishing in a bright flash of light. Miyala shook her head despairingly, before turning back to Marcus and nodding in greeting.

"All brawn… anyway, Marcus, I am Miyala, the Goddess of Time and Space, as you probably already know. I don't have much to say to you by the way of an important message or speech like the other deities… however, I do still need to warn you of your future… and inform you of your past."

"I see…" Marcus replied. "Well, go ahead, but I think I can predict most of what you have to say…"

She gave a gentle smile, before flipping the hourglass on her hand up, catching it with just a single finger the right way around, and keeping it balanced there for a moment as the sand fell from the top down to the bottom half of the glass. "I have seen many futures… and your futures have been like grains of sand on a beach compared to all the futures that I see. However, those grains of sand have recently become shiny pebbles, standing out from the others, as they are intertwined with the fate of the world and all those upon it. In some futures, you bring about the end of the world, in some, you simply exist to destroy, and in some, you recover things you've lost and help the deities… those last futures are the ones we are attempting to direct the fate of the world towards."

"I still don't see how I could possibly become powerful like that…"

"You will see, in time…" Miyala said softly, throwing the hourglass up once more, and catching it on the palm of her other hand, with the sand flowing upwards again in its irreversible flow. "Something very important happened three generations ago, when ferals were still being hunted down and killed with more fervour than they are today. After the destruction of one feral village, a single feral escaped his fate and ran, making it to the city of Sansata, through grievously injured… there, he captured a female Yoshi and raped her with the intention of conceiving a child to preserve his bloodline… for feral heritage, as you've been told many times, is a key part of the powers you may obtain. He died shortly thereafter from his wounds, and the female Yoshi returned home, shaken by the event even though he had told her about why he was doing it. Marcus… they were your great-grandparents. She laid an egg as a result, your grandfather's… and you know the rest from there; he had two sons in Lince city, then one died from an infection and the other moved to the Shoreside Village, meeting your mother, eventually resulting in you… where your feral bloodline first showed up since your grandfather, displaying itself with those prominent eye outlines of yours."

Marcus swallowed heavily, taking it all in. "And that makes me…"

"That makes you a distant descendant, like all those with feral lineage, of the goddess Karshina." Miyala confirmed.

"That explains what Tivaro said… how Shiala coming along was good for your plans… that mating with her would produce a 'more powerful effect' than if Alziana had stayed alive…"

"That is correct."

Marcus dipped his head and gave a deep sigh. "I don't know how I can tell her this… or if I should…"

"That is your decision, Marcus." Miyala said flatly. "You need to be heading back now… just remember what we've told you, and you can shape your own future if you use that information correctly."

Marcus closed his eyes as she gestured towards him with her free hand, feeling his consciousness float away as his vision went white once more…

* * *

Manny and Shiala were still by Marcus's side when Dave ran into the room and started prying open Visali's locker with the end of his quadra spear. "Dave, what…?" Manny started, but the human cut him off.

"We'd better get out of here. Visali's killed Xenly!"

"He what?" Shiala asked, unbelieving.

"Well, I assume he killed her… she was seriously injured and they both ran out of the hall, and neither one's come back… but it wouldn't be like him to just let her go." Dave murmured as he forced the lock open and grabbed his and Visali's things.

"He may have gone back to his room…" Manny suggested.

"Good point. Tell you what, you come with me, and Shiala, you stay here… no, on second thoughts, you may as well take Marcus back to the hotel room."

Shiala muttered something under her breath before hoisting Marcus's unconscious body up onto her saddle, before the three of them left and headed their separate ways…

* * *

As soon as Dave and Manny opened the door to Manny's flat, they spotted the red-orange Yoshi lying on his back on the couch, sipping a bottle of some kind of alcoholic drink. The moment he saw them enter, he gave a loud cheer and held up an unopened bottle, shouting, "Hey, c'mon and join me! I have reason to celebrate; I finally fulfilled my vow, and as an added plus Sira will probably respect me now!"

"Dude," Dave started, "You're in so much trouble…"

"They can't lay a finger on me." Visali replied, throwing a bottle to Manny and one to Dave. "Exiled assassins are outside the law… and so is anyone who kills them. I'm untouchable."

"I hope you're right." Dave replied.

"I know I'm right. I'm always right! I'm Visali Lestan, and I'm always right, no matter what the-…"

"Alright already." Dave interjected. "You quit the tournament, though…"

"Ah, this personal victory is better than anything they could've given me. Hey, Manny, you want to go with me down to Club Veils later on? I don't think we have much more alcohol left here, and I want to keep celebrating."

"Would I?" Manny replied, his eyes lighting up.

"I thought so. What about you, Dave?"

"Nah, I'm good. I think I'll stay here if it's all the same to you… I'm pretty tired from all that fighting."

"Suit yourself." Visali muttered, before turning to Manny. "Hey, where're your buddies?"

"I dunno, probably getting their tongues tied into knots, if I know them…"

* * *

"Ungh… oh, my head…"

"Marcus!"

Marcus didn't need to open his eyes to know that Shiala had just thrown herself on top of him and was hugging him tightly, on top of what felt like the mattress of the four-poster bed at the hotel. A little weary, he hugged her back, opening his eyes as she pulled him up into a sitting position and tightened her grip.

"Shiala… ah, I knew you'd be here when I woke up…"

"Well, what else could you have thought, Marcy? I hope you're not still angry at me for what I said earlier…"

"No, no, it was just a joke… in very poor taste, mind, but still… I just thought for a moment that you were serious, and… never mind."

He continued to hug her for a few moments before letting go of her and looking around. She had drawn the curtains around the bed, but it was still fairly light under them, though a little bit too warm for Marcus's liking… though maybe that was just from being with Shiala…

"Are you okay?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

He smiled and replied, "Yes, I'm fine… a little tired, but otherwise okay…"

"Aww… hey, lie on your front and let me help that…"

He did as she instructed and lay flat on his front, with his head resting on a pillow, and she pressed her fingers gently into his back, before moving them in circles as best she could, and he let a low groan escape him as he felt her soothing his tired muscles.

"That feels so good…"

With a high giggle, she whispered, "Anything for you, Marcy…" as she continued, pressing a little harder and moving up his back towards his shoulders, shuffling further up the bed so she could reach. She began to gently but firmly caress his shoulders, and he closed his eyes from the feeling it gave him, letting a sly smile creep onto his lips as she started gently massaging the sides of his neck.

"Roll over." She said sweetly, taking her hands away, and he did so, flopping onto his back and watching her as she put her soft hands on the top of his chest and started again, rubbing the flesh over his ribcage. His head sagged back and he stared at the fabric top of the four-poster as she moved around to his sides, then back over his stomach, before making a start on his leg muscles, still aching and sore from the tournament. He felt very relaxed and much less tired as she carefully rubbed the sides of his legs, before she stopped suddenly and he felt her warm breath on his skin as she leant over him and was about to give him a tender kiss…

_Knock knock knock._

Shiala paused with her lips but an inch away from Marcus's, holding the position there and waiting for the visitor to leave, but they both heard Manny's voice as he knocked again.

"Marcus, disentangle yourself from Shiala and open the door, I know you're in there…"

"Don't you have a key?" Marcus called back indignantly, sitting up and putting an arm around Shiala.

There was a pause, before Marcus heard something very quiet, followed by the lock on the door being opened and Manny stepping into the room. The blue Yoshi promptly stepped up to the bed and whipped back the curtains, saying, "Me and Visali are going down to a local bar… club… uh… whatever it is, it serves drinks anyway… and I'll be back later, okay? I came to drop off my knives and sword… I probably won't need them and I don't want to carry them around."

"Sure, whatever." Marcus replied, waiting as Manny let the curtains fall back before dropping down his sword and knives with audible metallic clanks, then making his way out of the door and slamming it. Marcus waited until he heard the lock click before turning back over to Shiala and stroking her fins tenderly.

"Now, where were we?" He asked brightly, and she responded by pouncing on him, pinning him down on the mattress. "I won at that tournament, so you know how it goes, right?" She said seductively, with a sly wink.

Marcus narrowed his eyes at her a little, and she gave a sigh. "Marcy, you know I'm only messing around, right?"

"Yeah, but I still don't like you joking about that…"

"Look, Marcus… do I need to tell you _why_ I love you? It's not for your strength, or power, or muscles… that may be a factor in a feral village, but we aren't in a feral village, here. I love you because you're kind to me, because you care about your friends, and because you're selfless! You mean so much to me because you're sweet, and gentle, and you care about my feelings! You worry about me even when there's no reason to, simply because _you love me_ so much that you don't want to see me hurt! You're the nicest, most perfect person I have ever met, and _that_ is why I love you!"

He smiled broadly and blushed a little, before replying, "And I love you because you're always there to help me… you always want to be with me, to hold me and make me feel like you do… because you want me to be happy, as well as you, and because you want my personality, not my body… that is why _I_ love _you_."

"You're so sweet…" She murmured as she pulled him close to her.

"Don't leave me, Shia… you're all I have, and all that I want, so don't leave me with nothing…"

"I won't, Marcy, not for as long as I live…"

**_To be continued..._**


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine: Two Sides To Every ...

**Cursed Yoshi**

****

**Chapter 39 Two sides to every coin**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"Well met… but I'm so sorry, Visali. I won't join your parents just yet…"

With a flick of her wrist, Xenly flung the smoke bomb down to the floor, where it shattered on impact and released the cloud of short-lived but dense smoke inside of it. Sprinting away as Visali stumbled off out of the cloud, she broke through the smoke and headed straight for the far end of the hall, jumping up into the air and going feet-first through a plate glass window out into the courtyard.

She ran off for the main gates, aware of the wounds on her shoulder, nose, leg, and her arm, the gash on her chest, and the punctured lung, struggling to breathe and running on sheer willpower. Running through the crowded streets, she attracted many looks and gazes, but she scanned the crowds as she made her way through them, until she spotted another white Yoshi. Xenly grabbed the Yoshi around the neck and dragged her into a nearby alleyway, putting on a burst of speed and ducking down a side alley, only to find it was a dead end.

Xenly reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small knife, cutting the surprised Yoshi in roughly the same places as her wounds were, and stabbing her in the chest, penetrating almost enough to puncture her lung, but not quite. Aware of loud footsteps approaching, Xenly unsheathed her swords and forced them into the hands of the stunned, injured, and frightened Yoshi before pushing her forwards. Cursing as she noticed that the Yoshi had red fins rather than white ones like hers, which might be a giveaway, Xenly ducked down behind a nearby crate, and tried to catch her breath.

She heard a cry of pain, and something hit the ground, but she forced herself not to look lest she be spotted and killed in the end anyway. She could hear heavy breathing, then the sound of someone spitting, and footsteps heading away from her, getting ever more distant until they finally became inaudible.

Xenly got to her feet, struggling more and more to breathe, before collecting her swords from the dead Yoshi, and heading for the nearest hospital so she could get her injuries healed…

* * *

Later that day, after the sun had set, Xenly was once more out on the streets, but keeping carefully to the shadows and staying on alert for any sign of someone who might recognise her. Crossing over the bridge and heading for the university, she kept her eyes open for Visali, though her only intention was to avoid him, and not end his life.

_I don't want to give myself away… and he could very well kill me if I fail again…_

Sidling up against the outer walls of the university, she moved slowly for the now closed gates, before attempting to climb up and over them. However, they made a loud clatter as she tried to clamber over them, and she dropped back down, hiding in the shadows until all was calm once more. Walking over to the other side of the street, she made a U-turn and took a running jump for the gate, furiously fluttering her arms to get her over the ornate metalwork on the top, she only just made it over unscathed, landing on her feet safely on the other side.

Moving quickly but silently through the empty courtyard, Xenly headed over to the nearest door and tried to open it, but found it to be locked. Reaching into her saddlebags, she removed two tiny pins, crouched down to her knees, inserted the pins into the keyhole and began to pick the lock.

For three or four minutes she knelt there, looking over her shoulder every so often, forcing the pins around until the pins fell into place and the lock finally clicked open. She wrenched open the door and headed inside, immediately lost in a maze of unfamiliar corridors and near-complete darkness, but within a few moments she used a spell similar to the ones she had used on Visali to light a small, white flame at the end of the two pins, casting only light.

For almost half an hour she stumbled around in the darkness and deserted corridors, checking the names engraved on door plaques, until she finally found one that said 'Lab Number Three'. Moving on slowly, she passed number four, and soon came to a door labelled 'Lab Number Five'.

_"…anyway, Darcen and some friends of his found a way to make artificial pigment… we've got a whole store of it in lab five…"_

Picking the lock again as she recalled the rest of what Visali had said, Xenly soon released the catch and made her way inside, holding up her makeshift light to look around. Spotting a large cabinet on one side of the room, she found it to be unlocked and looked inside.

Most of the shelves were laden with sheets of paper and vaell parchment, but further down she spotted a tray of crude syringes, simple needles with hollow cylinders attached to them… and many were filled with varying colours of pigment. Smirking to herself by the light of her assassin magic, Xenly sifted through the tray in an attempt to find two syringes the same colour, and was dismayed to only find a pair of metallic silver ones.

_Better than nothing, and they aren't white…_

Very slowly and cautiously, Xenly raised the tip of the first needle to her nose, touching it against her skin before gently pushing it forward, feeling only a slight prick. Taking it out again, she dabbed at her nose with her other hand, finding some kind of liquid seeping out from the puncture, and she licked her hand cautiously, checking for any taste of blood. She found none, however, and with equal care and precision she raised the syringe to her nose, pushed the tip of the needle into her skin to the same depth, and put down her needles in order to push on the end of the syringe and inject the contents into her skin.

She could feel something very cold spreading across her body as she did so, and when she finally reached the end of the pigment store and removed the needle, she felt the cold feeling go away. Repeating the process at the tip of her tail, she emptied another syringe, and quickly put everything back where it had been, leaving no trace of her visit except for the two syringes, which she threw behind a large, heavy desk pushed up against a wall.

Once she was out in the corridor again, she switched her shoes for the spiked ones she had been given in the feral village, stashing her normal shoes in her saddlebags for now. Under the cover of darkness, she left the university grounds and vanished into the night…

* * *

Visali slammed the empty bottle down on the table, making their other empties rattle. He and Manny had so far consumed fourteen bottles of beer between them, and things were starting to go hazier than Visali liked, to the point where he couldn't make out the rest of the nightclub beyond their table. Manny was extremely unsteady but still conscious and still drinking, waiting for one of the Yoshi waitresses to come and clear their table.

"You know," he said to Visali, "I reckon Shiala is kind of nice looking for someone that Marcus pulled, don't you think?"

"Yeah, she's pretty hot." Visali said, nodding. "I hear that ferals are like wild animals when they get going… so never get in an argument with one. But, if you can handle their personality, they've got plenty of muscle… I always liked strong girls."

"Speaking of strong girls…"

The red-orange Yoshi looked over to entrance just in time to see a blurry pink object move through them, and Visali swore loudly; even at this range with his alcohol-impaired vision, he could still tell what that particular shade of pink meant: trouble.

"Sira's here!" Visali whispered to Manny, before ducking under the table, almost hitting his nose on the edge as he went underneath.

"It's no good, man… she's already spotted you. You're not exactly hard to spot, you know, with that red-into-orange colouring of yours…"

Visali kept crouched until a pink hand grabbed the back of his neck and hauled him up to his seat. "So _this_ is where you've been the whole time! You had me so worried after you disappeared from the tournament!"

"But I achieved my vow! I gained vengeance! Xenly is dead!"

"Really?" Sira asked, her tone suddenly shifting. "Did you really kill…?"

"Yes! I did it… she's dead now. You can be proud of me now, right?"

The pink Yoshi promptly sat herself down on Visali's lap and they started to kiss, leaving Manny to catch the attention of one of the veil-covered, waitress-shaped blurs that was moving past to clear the table for them. As she got close to Manny, he spotted the yellow skin not covered by the veil, and cried, "Hey, Gemma!"

She looked over to him and nodded. "So, did you win?"

"Nope… no idea who won."

"What do you think of the club?"

"Well…" Manny started, looking around. It was mostly blurry except for Sira and Visali who were still tonguing each other passionately, and off to one side he could make out some dancers and singers on a stage, though they were fuzzier than they had been before.

"Pretty nice." Manny said eventually. "Kinda… tough to see, though…"

"Had one too many?" Gemma asked as she grabbed the last bottle.

"You could say that…"

"Where are you planning on going after you leave the city?"

This seemed like an odd question to Manny, but he racked his brains and came up with, "Uhm… Sansata, I'm heading for the castle nearby…"

"Really? For Foryo? You should talk to the manageress, she knows about him."

"Oh… uh, great!"

"She's not here, though… come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure!" Manny replied, too drunk to think of much else to say. "Uh… see you later."

"Later." She replied, moving off into the depths of the dark nightclub and disappearing from view.

"Nice tail…" Manny murmured to himself, before standing up and abruptly falling over. "Uh, Visali, I'm heading back now… I'll see you later, okay?"

There was no response, but Manny continued on his way, standing back up and staying that way, making his way out of the club drunkenly trying not to hit anything.

_I hope Marcus isn't awake._ Manny thought. _I can do without the lecture on drinking, thank you very much…_

* * *

"Marcus…"

The brown Yoshi opened his eyes and looked up at the sound of his name. He was lying next to Shiala with an arm around her, and they were both on their sides, having fallen asleep together shortly after night fell. "What is it?" he asked softly, but there was no reply from the red feral, and he closed his eyes again.

"Mmm… Marcus…" he heard her murmur. _Must be dreaming…_ he thought to himself, moving closer to her and resting his head on her shoulder. All was silent for a moment, before she suddenly squirmed, crouching into a foetal position, breathing heavily, before giving a low whimper of, "No… no, M-Marcus…"

"Shiala?" Marcus asked, opening his eyes again and sitting up. He couldn't see in the darkness under the hangings of the bed, but could feel her next to him, shivering slightly. He softly touched a hand to her shoulder, and she calmed down a little, before suddenly rolling onto her back and alternately sniffling and whimpering as though she were about to cry.

He was about to wake her up, when he remembered what she had said about her being strong enough to take care of her own problems and to make her own decisions. _If it gets much worse, I'll wake her up, but I don't want to treat her like a child…_

She calmed down once more and only twitched every so often, allowing Marcus to fall asleep again, at least until she started to thrash around wildly and struck him across the chest. He grabbed her arms and attempted to pin her down, but she was too powerful for him, and he gave her a sharp smack to the side of her nose, waking her up immediately. He expected her to reprimand him, but much to his surprise, she instead flung herself onto him and began to cry loudly, burying her head in his chest as best she could and hugging him as tightly as she could manage.

They didn't need to exchange any words; some form of mutual understanding between them prompted Marcus to put one hand on her fins and the other on her back, holding her gently in his arms as she cried, keeping her close to him until her tears abated and she slowly drew away from him. Shifting a little closer, she leant forward and put her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder, and he finally asked her, "What's wrong, Shia?"

She sniffled once more, before giving a low, deep sigh, and replying, "Oh, Marcus… I've lied to you… I told you I was strong, I told you I wasn't weak, I told you I can face my own problems… I've lied… I'm sorry, but I didn't want to show weakness to you… it's just my feral instincts; I know you would support me, but I just didn't want that to happen… I don't want to be a burden on you…"

She fell silent for a moment, forcing a smile he couldn't see as he held her tight against his body. "Marcus… I… I had a dream… several dreams… they were horrible… I… first, I was back at the village with you when the dragon attacked… only, you didn't survive… you died… it hurt me so much, even then, because I was feeling for you what I feel now…"

"Then, we were together again when we met Visali… only, instead of accepting me, when I tried to kiss you, you pushed me away and spurned me… you didn't want me, you wanted to get rid of me, to see the end of me…"

"And then in the next nightmare… we… we were outside, somewhere… I'm not sure where… and suddenly, a girl Yoshi came along… I can't remember what she looked like, because that nightmare was fuzzy… but you recognised her as Alziana… and you left me… you and her just vanished, leaving me alone without a glance back…"

"A-And then, we were here, together, and I… uh… I…"

"You what?" Marcus asked, finally speaking.

"I… offered… to mate with you… because I love you so much… and you got angry, saying I didn't love you, and I was just lusting after you, and you got up and left me… then… just before you woke me up… I had another dream… it seemed so real… it was just you and me in a castle somewhere… I think we'd finally found that person who killed Alziana…"

Marcus finally interjected. "Murdered."

"Murdered Alziana… and… he… he killed you right before my eyes… I was there next to your body, and he grabbed me and was about to kill me when you woke me up…"

She fell silent, and Marcus thought for a few moments. Eventually, he gently stroked her fins and replied, "I think that you're deathly scared of me leaving you… to the point where your mind makes out worst-case scenarios of every possible thing that can or could have gone wrong. It sounds like you're… not that I'm trying to sound big-headed, but… you're madly in love with me, and you don't want it… our relationship… to stop."

"I know, I know… but, I have this idea in my head that if you leave me, it'll be in the harshest way possible… I know that that probably isn't the case, but… I just wouldn't like it to happen…"

Marcus rested his head against hers and said, "It won't happen… though I'd be interested in knowing what would have possessed you, in this world or your dreams, to make you think I'd want to mate with you."

"I know that you don't want kids, but… I don't know either… it was just a dream…"

Marcus gave a sigh. "There's a reason that I'd refuse, though I might not walk out on you… even though you are helping me, it's still too soon after I lost Alziana to try something like that with someone else… even though I love you… because there are just some things I don't want to let go of yet… and besides, I don't want to risk kids. Me and her, we looked at it as something that wasn't for fun, but more something that went beyond hugs and kisses in showing affection for someone, but we still almost never did it… so don't think you're being hard done-by."

"I'm not…"

"Contrary to what Manny might think, you don't need that to keep a relationship going… you need love, not lust, and a mutual understanding between both parties… which we have. I love you, Shiala, for who you are, and nothing short of death will stop that."

She smiled and pulled away from him, looking into his eyes. "I knew that in the real world, you would always do that… explain things to me like you do… because you want me to understand what I don't know, right?"

"Right." Marcus confirmed. "You're still young, Shiala… if there's anything I can do to help you, just ask."

"You do so much for me already." She replied. "Just… don't tell anyone else about this, okay? I won't try to pretend I'm strong in front of you any more… but I don't want the others to think I'm weak."

"I promise." Marcus answered, before leaning forward and giving her a kiss on the nose. "Let's get some sleep, then… and no more nightmares, okay?"

"Just keep hold of me, Marcy… as long as you're there, your presence will be enough for me…"

There was a brief pause, then the two of them both spoke and said, "I love you" to each other in the darkness.

**_To be continued…_**


	41. Chapter Forty: Some Things You Can't Esc...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 40 Some things you can't escape**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

When the morning came again, Marcus woke from his sleep to the sound of sheets of rain slamming against the windows of the hotel, something that Marcus took as a sign that his day could only get worse. Not wanting to get up, he stayed where he was, half-asleep with an arm around Shiala, and nuzzled up to her sleeping form in an affectionate manner, before peacefully lying still and waiting for her to wake from her slumber.

When at last she awoke, she gave a pleased hum and nuzzled back against him, before turning over and rubbing noses with Marcus, saying, "Morning, Marcy... sleep well?"

"Of course I did... but what about you?" Marcus replied, before lowing his voice to a whisper. "No more nightmares?"

"No, none... just some memories of time we've shared together."

He smiled at her and hugged her tightly, before turning over and parting the hangings of the bed to see if Manny was around. The blue Yoshi, though in the room, looked pretty miserable; he was sitting on the edge of a chair with a blanket wrapped around him like a cloak, and he was stirring some kind of drink using a spoon, with a miserable look on his face. He looked up and nodded at Marcus in greeting, before taking the spoon out of his mug and taking a sip of the liquid.

"Not having an early morning drink, are we?" Marcus asked, and Manny scowled.

"Not a chance, not after last night. Seven beers... I should've known better, once I discovered how strong the stuff was. Don't shout, okay? The rain is enough to keep me awake and add to my headache. I got a cartload of food for you, by the way... it's on that table over there."

"Thanks, Manny." Marcus said, before letting the hangings fall back, and got out of the bed and donned his gear, accompanied by Shiala. Checking the tray of food, Marcus wondered if it really had been a cartload at some point; there was a large bowl of fruits, all ripe-looking and juicy, a basket of small bread rolls, plenty of meat like bacon and sausages, some fried chicken eggs, grilled tomatoes, fried potatoes, toast, fried toast, and plenty more appetising food that Marcus and Shiala cleared away most of in a short space of time.

"So, how did your night go?" Manny inquired, taking another sip of what smelled like some kind of herbal drink. "Being drunk may not be fun, but getting that way sure is."

"Ah, it was... you know... we didn't do much, but we were together, and that's all that mattered. What happened after I... uh... blacked out?"

"Oh, not much. Visali killed Xenly."

"He what?" Marcus said, shocked. "Why?"

"Remember how she talked about Vick Lestan? Apparently, he was Visali's father, so he didn't take too well to making the link between her and her father's murderer. Given the amount of blood that was on his quadra spear, I don't think there's much of her left, wherever her body is..."

Marcus dipped his head sadly. "Even though she did that... she was still our friend..."

"It was one or the other, Marcus. They had to settle it... and there was no way one of them was going to let the other live. At least they didn't both die."

"True..." Marcus murmured. "But I can't do anything about it..."

The brown Yoshi trailed off and wandered around for a minute, before going to the window and looking out into the storm. Rain was lashing against the windows in torrents, and Marcus could see a clever system of gutters in the cobblestones taking the water away so that the streets didn't get flooded. He thought for a moment before remembering something, and turned back to his friend.

"Hey, Manny, how much money have you got?"

"Uh... let's see... after what I spent on beer last night... and what we spent on Yoshi gear... plus everything else... I think I've got about four thousand four hundred coins left, give or take a hundred or so."

"Do you know how much silver costs?"

"No idea, Marcus. Why do you ask?"

With a sigh, Marcus started undoing the catch on his saddlebag containing the octagram. "There's something I need to tell you about, Manny... it's important if we ever get to Sansata..."

Manny drained his mug and looked at Marcus expectantly, his eyes widening as he saw the octagram and the six jewels held by it. Even though he'd seen it before, it still was a shock to him, as he'd forgotten about it, and also didn't want Marcus to know Shiala had already shown it to him. "I found this when we were in that cave between here and the feral village... Shiala tells me it's a sacred object from the octotheist religion..."

"Marcus, that's an octagram... only saviours chosen by the gods themselves can find them... and those six gems... you've met with some of the gods, right?"

"Yes... and one of them told me... that Foryo... is a vampire."

Manny went quiet, his face genuinely pale, and Marcus continued, "He said that if we want to kill him, we need a weapon made out of silver... and Laryshka needs to bless it for us... otherwise, we won't be able to hurt him."

In a low tone, Manny suddenly leant forward and said, "Marcus... have you ever had second thoughts about this? Us going up against him? I mean... it seemed okay at the start, but now... it keeps looking harder and harder... I know it might be... taking the easy way out, but... maybe we should quit while we're ahead?"

"They said I have to do it... I have to fight him and defeat him."

Manny swallowed, and nodded solemnly. "I understand... and you're my friend, so... I'll go with you."

"Really?"

"Yes... I'd want all the help I could get in your position, and if it has to be done... I don't want you to do it alone."

"Thanks again, Manny." Marcus said with a smile.

"No problem..." Manny murmured, but his tone told Marcus that he genuinely was worried.

After a few moments of silence, Marcus turned around and headed back for the four-poster bed, finding Shiala hidden behind the curtains. She patted the mattress to invite him over, and he climbed up onto the bed to talk to her.

"Come here, Marcy..." She said softly, in a much sweeter tone than normal, as opposed to the slightly seductive tone she normally used on him.

"Yes?" he asked as he lay down next to her.

"Marcus... I want to talk to you... about Alziana."

Marcus's eyes dipped, but he gave a reluctant nod. "Okay. What exactly do you want to talk about?"

"I want you to do the talking... tell me everything about her... let it out, Marcus... let it go, let her go, tell me all of your maybes, your what-ifs, all your daydreams... everything. Let it out."

Marcus gave a deep sigh. "She was a pink Yoshi... I met her one day in the Shoreside Village... she just came over and tried to talk to me, but... I don't know... it was kind of uncomfortable because we were pretty young... we didn't really become friends or anything at that point, and it was much, much later when I finally talked to her again... and we became friends that time. It grew from there... first it was the hand holding, then the hugs, then the nose rubbing... then the kiss... I'll never forget that, no matter what, because it changed my life forever. I had a girlfriend... I had someone who cared as deeply about me as I cared about them... someone who always understood how I was feeling... someone who could make me feel warm in the fiercest winds... we were always there to help each other, but she always wanted to come with me and Manny when we went into the forest... but, if I'd let her come, she might have been hurt, so I didn't. Maybe she was old enough that one last time when I refused..."

After a moment of silence, Shiala put a hand on his shoulder, and he felt compelled to continue. "She was quite meek and timid when we first got together... she rarely talked or got close to me, and I always had to make the first move, but I was shy and didn't like to do that. Still, we got closer regardless... we could spend hours together talking, with me sitting behind her with my arms around her, or me lying on her lap with her stroking my fins... she liked sunsets, too... we used to go down to this raised bit near the beach and watch the sunset together..."

"I used to make a lot of romantic comments, too... she liked those, I think... she eventually liked to give me kisses frequently, and I liked them, too... and I was always visiting the travelling merchants that came by... getting her bits of jewellery... rings, necklaces... she didn't like to wear it in public, but when we were going to spend the night together, she decked herself out in the stuff I'd bought her... it wasn't much, since I didn't have a lot of cash, but it was the gesture that counted..."

"One other thing she liked was sleeping under the stars... in the summer, if it was a nice, warm night, we'd go to the cliff together and take some blankets, and lay them out, and sleep next to each other..."

Marcus sighed once more, listening to the rain beat against the window. "She seemed like the perfect girl to me... she was very pretty... but she was smart, too, and had a caring personality... she was always worried about me, and I was worried about her, too... I always thought something would happen to her while I was away, but as soon as I got over that fear, something happened..."

Marcus fell silent and refused to speak, shaking his head when Shiala prodded him. "Keep going." She urged. "Tell me how she died... you have to finish this..."

He drew a long, low breath, before speaking softly to her, holding her close to him for comfort as though he was attempting to draw strength from her. "When me and Manny returned to the village... it wasn't there. All the houses has been levelled... in some places there was nothing left at all... we first met Xenly there... but when it occurred to me to look for Alziana, I almost immediately felt pain because I knew she couldn't have survived... we went to her house and uncovered her body... she was in terrible shape... cuts and bruises... shattered ribs... but it was her blood that hurt me the most, because I knew she couldn't recover if blood was coming from her mouth... I... couldn't take it... I fell onto her body in tears... and she woke up... I thought she was going to live, I thought she'd make it... I thought that I was being given a second chance... but... after she told me that she'd heard the mercenaries call Foryo's name... and she gave me the ring... she died... I... kissed her just as she died, but... I... don't know... if I... was... quick... enough..."

Marcus was sniffling and holding back tears as he finished, ending with, "S-she d-died... r-right before m-my e-eyes... r-right in m-my a-arms... if I h-hadn't... h-had to s-see that... t-then m-maybe I wouldn't b-be so h-hurt... b-but... if I'd b-been q-quicker..."

He couldn't finish, and tears streamed down his face faster than he could wipe them off. Distressed, he hopped off the bed and grabbed his cloak, heading for the door before Shiala could protest, sprinted down the stairs, out of the hotel, and into the rain, pinning the top closed with the brooch in the process.

Marcus didn't know or care where he was going... he just kept running, taking random turns, going in circles once or twice, running to escape... to get away from the painful memories... to escape the torture he lived in...

The rain beat down on him and rolled off his cloak, but soaked his exposed head, and he finally came to a stop in a deserted street near a large building. Noticing that it had an overhang covering the door, he ran up to it and leant against it, taking refuge from the torrential downpour, before noticing that he was resting his head on a metal plaque. He turned around to read it, slowly scanning the deep-cut letters of the Yoshian alphabet, spelling out:

YOSHIAN CHURCH OF THE OCTOTHEIST RELIGION

Marcus stared blankly at it. All his random turns, his running, had brought him to the doors of a church, a house of a religion that he shunned... but he was having second thoughts... the octagram... the meetings with the gods...

Making a decision, Marcus lifted the ring on the door and turned it, before going inside.

**_To be continued..._**


	42. Chapter Forty One: Revelations

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 41 Revelations**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Inside the church, many rows of benches stretched towards the altar, all of them padded slightly; not so much to be luxurious, but enough to make them comfortable to sit on. Around the edges of the vast room, lit torches in brackets cast light across the empty space, aided by many candles in free-standing floor-length holders on the polished marble floor, casting clear reflections in the shiny surface. Here and there along the sides of the church were six stone statues of the Yoshian gods, as well as another behind the altar, and an empty pedestal on a ledge set into the wall with an arch over it, though Marcus couldn't make out the plaque inscription at the distance he was at. The altar itself was made of polished wood, something dark like mahogany, and a large, thick, leather-bound copy of the Octotheist holy book rested on it, though the pages were sheaves of vaell with the letters cut into them instead of paper. As Marcus stepped forwards, his footsteps echoed in the empty room, deserted except for a Yoshi behind the altar, reading from the book and occasionally licking his right index finger before turning the page gingerly, so as not to fold or otherwise damage the pages.

He was extremely dark grey, verging on black, and was wearing a black satin scarf with white stitching, a sign of his position as a member of the Octotheist clergy. He was holding a monocle up to his right eye and turning the pages with the other hand, scanning for something among the texts, but as Marcus got closer to the altar he stopped and put the monocle down, stepping down to greet the cloaked brown Yoshi.

"Greetings." The grey Yoshi said, nodding slowly. "Welcome to this holy building... how may I be of service?"

"I have a problem that I want to ask you about." Marcus replied, trying not to sound casual. "Would it be alright for me to ask for your guidance?"

"Yes, but it is not just my guidance, but the knowledge and guidance of the gods themselves as well. What is wrong?"

Marcus took a seat at one of the benches, and removed his dripping cloak, hanging it gently on the bench in front so it could drip and dry off. "Almost a month ago, near the start of Lazrin, I was far from this place, living a peaceful life on Yoshi's Island in the Shoreside Village... but then, some mercenaries came and destroyed the village and everyone in it, except for me, my best friend, and a close friend of his who has died since... we weren't there at the time, you see. One of the lives lost was that of my girlfriend, and needless to say I was extremely distraught..."

The Yoshi nodded and sat down next to him, listening intently as Marcus continued his story. "A bit later, close to the end of Lazrin, I met a feral female in a feral community on the other side of the mountain range in the east... at first, she didn't seem to be much, but soon she expressed an interest in me, and I let things happen. The first time she tried to kiss me, I pushed her away, but I gave in a day or two later, and it's progressed from there... we're very close, and I'm happier on the whole, but I want to know... does seeking companionship this soon after my girlfriend's death make me a bad person?"

After nodding slowly and thinking for a moment, the Yoshi put a hand on Marcus's shoulder and answered, "It depends on how you felt for them, for a start..."

"I love Shiala dearly, and I loved Alziana with all my heart while she was still alive... I don't get into relationships for any reason other than love."

"Well then, if what you say is true, there is nothing wrong at all. You see, when Vizorvy was still only a demi-god, he came up with a set of ideas and suggestions for dealing with members of the opposite gender... philosophies of love, if you will... and one of those was that if the love was true and shared by both members, nothing should stand in its way and prevent it from flourishing. For it is in love, he said, that our feelings are strongest, and we can gain many positive things from successful relationships. Love should flourish wherever it exists... and also, if it would make you sad to stop seeing this 'Shiala', and it would equally affect her, then why should you stop it when you are both in love and happy together?"

Marcus was deeply moved by this reply. It made so much sense to him, and was such an intriguing response, that he pondered on the matter for many moments before realising that the Yoshian clergyman was waiting for him to reply.

"You're right." Marcus said. "Why would I want to stop it? She helps me to get over Alziana's death, she makes me feel happy when we're together... we have differences, of course, but those differences make our lives interesting, and we can overlook them if they become a problem."

"_Variety is the spice of life_." The Yoshi quoted.

"Yes... exactly... thank you."

"Is there anything else?"

Marcus paused, before turning to the Yoshi and looking into his eyes. Even though Marcus was just a stranger who had walked in off the street from a torrential downpour partially to escape the rain, he could see in the grey Yoshi's eyes that he was genuinely concerned and wanted to help if he could.

"Well... this may come as a surprise, but I'm actually an atheist..."

A smile flickered across the Yoshi's lips. "Do not worry. The church accepts anyone who needs help... to deny it would be pointless and hurtful."

"But... I'm having doubts. I know a little bit about Octotheism, but I think I want to learn more... would it be alright if I ask some more questions?"

"Assuming you can get through the crowd." The Yoshi replied with a smirk, and Marcus gave a chuckle.

"By the way, my name is Marcus."

"Vachez. Nice to meet you, Marcus." The Yoshi replied, taking Marcus's hand and shaking it.

"A pleasure... well, Vachez, what happens when you die?"

Vachez took a deep breath before continuing. "According to the _Fayen_, -the Octotheist holy book,- when you die, one of three things may happen. Most people go to the afterlife, a plane of existence separate from here, where you will be reunited with certain people depending on what you did during your life. Your parents, children, and siblings will be there... as well as anyone who you truly loved, but not anybody you merely lusted after."

"I see... so I would see my parents and Alziana again if I died now... who else?"

"Well, any close friends... and by close, I mean truly close friends, who would always support you and help you out, and you would do the same to them... powerful, unbreakable friendship, you understand."

Marcus nodded. "Is there any way to... talk to them?"

"From the mortal world? Not very easily... only elite oracles can do that, and I'm talking about the best of the best, the most adept at the art of second sight. There are probably only about three or four people who can do that... and they won't do it for free, I imagine."

"What about... bringing them back?"

Vachez took a deep breath. "Theoretically... it would take an incredible amount of magic to summon someone from another plane of existence, the kind of power that only the gods possess... and also, unless you could fuse that person to a new body in this life, they would become a ghost. Although, there is an Octotheist legend that somewhere in Chyrus is a hidden holy place... 'The Marble Altar'... perhaps you've heard of it. They say that if you find it, it may be possible to bring a loved one back, but nobody has ever found it yet, and chances are that only someone like a saviour or a demi-god would be allowed to do that anyway. But I digress... if you don't go to the afterlife, you'll either be cursed as a ghost to forever walk the mortal world as a spectral animation, or you'll be damned to the underworld for all of eternity, to live in pain and torture until the end of everything."

Marcus swallowed heavily, and Vachez chuckled before continuing. "Don't worry, though... not many go there. You see, you as a being are comprised of three parts; your body, your soul, and your mind. Losing any one of the three means you are no longer a person, no longer whole... If you lose your body, well, that's dying... if your soul and mind are still intact, you pass on to the afterlife. If you lose your mind, you go insane, no longer capable of rational thought. Losing your soul means you have become irreversibly corrupted by evil, and you will be banished to the underworld when you die, never to return from the inner crust of Chyrus."

"Wait, the underworld actually exists on Chyrus?"

"Yes... the portal sealed by the goddess Karshina is far in the southwest, but the exact location is unknown... though they say it is possible to summon back individual beings through advanced magic. If you lose your mind and soul but still have your body, you are merely a zombie, a creature incapable of thinking and doomed to die shortly. And of course, if you lose your soul, mind, _and_ body, then you simply cease to exist and are erased from time... a fate that very few suffer. But remember; all three can repair themselves if damaged. If you take an injury, it heals itself if it is not a mortal wound and does not become infected. If you start turning evil you can always redeem yourself and restore your soul... and if you have just started to lose your mind, it can be recovered."

Marcus couldn't argue; to him, the words and the stories and legends behind them made so much sense that he found himself believing in them... he drank in every word and memorised it, retaining the knowledge he was being imparted with.

"One other thing... can you tell me about the saviours?"

"There have been five to date... though their full stories take many hours to retell. The first two became gods when they died, the third and fourth legends forever, and the fifth, as you may well know, struck down the God of Death... but was killed in doing this. His name was Sévar, and we believe that one day, he will be reborn in another body, and finish what he started... though, of course, the parents who name him will know nothing of the legend. We of the Octotheist religion wait for that day, knowing that he will fulfil the prophecy and free us all forever."

"Prophecy?" Marcus inquired.

"Yes... about a year after Sévar died, the best oracle the world has ever known, second only to Miyala, suddenly lapsed into a heavy trance and made a series of predictions, all of which have become true so far... except for the final great prophecy, which was recorded and became an important belief in Octotheism. I can't remember the whole thing, but it's in the _Fayen_..."

Vachez stood up and made his way to the altar and the book rested on it, turning to a page close to the end before flicking backwards through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "You don't mind if I read it in Yoshian, do you? It'll save me time translating it from the language it was written in."

"Not at all." Marcus said, still in awe from everything he was being told.

After clearing his throat, Vachez picked up the monocle and held it to his right eye, reading in a loud, clear voice that didn't so much as echo as it did resonate and reinforce what was being said. "The Prophecy of the Cursed Yoshi reads thus; '_On the day that the sixth saviour is born, the God of Death and Destruction, still alive but sealed by the other gods, will set many plans into action to stop him from becoming a holy warrior and leading to his defeat. The saviour's feral heritage will unlock a long-forgotten great power, which the Lord of Darkness will attempt to acquire for his own devices and use to destroy the world. He will suffer many losses and so many injuries and defeats, forever having all he has gained taken from him, with such frequency and such devastating consequences that he despairs that nothing will ever help him, and the path of darkness is the only one to take. After falling under a curse that forever changes his life, he will face a test... should he fail, the world is doomed and Sévar will never return to aid us in our darkest hour. However, should he triumph, the gods will reward him richly and return that which was taken away from him... a direct blood descendant of him will be the seventh saviour, Sévar, though the parents will be ignorant of this prophecy and all the legends. He and he alone shall destroy the God of Death and lead Chyrus to a golden age of peace, wiping out the humans who befoul the planet's surface, and the Koopas who exist to destroy, leaving only the gentle Yoshies and honourable Birdos on this fair land of ours_.' "

Marcus couldn't speak. Most of that was referring to him... and Sévar was apparently related to him, at some point in the future. Would his relationship with Shiala carry on and produce the 'more powerful effect' the gods had mentioned? But he had to not resort to evil for this future to carry on... and could he do that if he knew exactly what this power was that was being referred to? 'A long-forgotten great power'...

"Marcus?" Vachez asked, seeing the brown Yoshi lost in thought.

"Sorry, sorry... I was just thinking..."

Vachez stepped down and stood close to Marcus. "Is there anything else you want me to help you with?"

Marcus drew a deep breath as he thought, putting out his hands and resting them on the back of the bench in front of him. Vachez muttered something inaudible to Marcus, before enquiring, "May I ask where you got that ring?"

Marcus looked up and saw that Vachez was pointing towards the ring on Marcus's middle finger of his right hand. "Uh, from Alziana... why?"

"Nothing... I was just surprised you were a father already, that's all."

"What are you talking about?" Marcus said in confusion, looking at the ring. "I pried it out of her dying grasp. She didn't say there was anything special about it when she offered it to me earlier that day, either."

Vachez bit his lip and put a hand on Marcus's shoulder. "Marcus, you don't know what that ring symbolises, do you?"

"No... I thought it was just a bit of jewellery... what does it mean?"

"Well, different rings between unmarried couples propose different things under old Yoshian traditions... a diamond ring is a marriage proposal, for example... and a gold ring with at least two rubies set into it is a proposal for the pair to mate and have children. If you're married you don't do that, but unmarried couples usually who don't want to marry, or can't, use the ring as a proposal to raise children."

"But wait... she offered me that ring before, and said she meant to give it to me on my previous birthday... and when I refused... wait... oh no..."

* * *

_...Marcus winked, waved again, then turned and left. He looked back after a yard or two, and could swear he spotted tears in her eyes..._

* * *

Marcus suddenly felt a heavy pang of grief. Even though he hadn't known the symbolic meaning behind the ring, he felt guilty for refusing the ring in the way he had done, and a string of thoughts suddenly went through his mind.

If I hurt her feelings... she wouldn't be mad at me, but she'd still be distressed...

And if she was upset... she wouldn't have left the house...

And she wouldn't have known that Foryo and his men were coming...

And she wouldn't or couldn't escape...

"By the gods, what have I done?" Marcus moaned aloud, surprising Vachez. "It's my fault... all my fault... it's my fault that all this happened, my fault that she's dead!"

Vachez gave Marcus a consoling pat on the back and calmly said, "If fate, if Karshina, had meant for her to die, there was nothing that you could have done to prevent it. You cannot escape death... nobody can do that."

After a moment or two of silence, he asked, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

After a few more moments of deliberation, Marcus forced a small smile and looked up at Vachez's face. "I... I want to be converted to Octotheism, if that's at all possible..."

**_To be continued..._**


	43. Chapter Forty Two: Right Or Wrong?

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 42 - Right or wrong?**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Shiala was pacing back and forth briskly in the hotel room, looking out into the storm outside and wringing her hands nervously, waiting for Marcus to come back. She knew she'd overdone it this time; she had never seen Marcus cry before and was dearly hurt herself by what she had done to him, even though she had intended to help him as much as possible. Continually cursing herself under her breath, her head was filled with visions of what could be happening to him... he might have run off and left her for good... committed suicide in his misery...

"No, he wouldn't do that to me..."

"What?" Manny asked, and she became aware that she had spoken aloud. He continued, "Look, if you're worried you can borrow my cloak and go look for him, but if I know Marcus like I think I do, he'll just be staring at his reflection in the river or something like that."

"You don't understand! He was upset... he was crying! I never wanted to do that to him. And what if that cloak doesn't protect him enough and he catches a cold, or pneumonia, or something worse?"

Manny shook his head despairingly and went back to polishing his sword. "You're just doing what Alziana used to do; blow the smallest thing right out of all proportion, run around in a fit of worry and leap on him when he returned, bawling apologies and promising never to upset him again."

"What are you talking about?" Shiala asked, intrigued.

"Like I said before; don't believe everything he tells you about her. She could be a bad little girl when she wanted to, and had a major weakness for alcohol. I almost managed to get them broken up by underestimating what she might do while drunk, you know. Not intentional, I assure you, but a lesson for the both of them nonetheless. She could be pretty foul-mouthed and violent as well, even without a drink or two; once or twice I incurred her wrath and heard worse language than you'd find in a dark bar in the corner of this city. She was innocent once, then she met Marcus and they both became a lot less charming and a lot more annoying."

"But he's been gone for so long..."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Shut up!" Shiala yelled, stunning Manny by the outburst. "I don't care what lies you have to say! If Marcus wants me to hear something, he'll tell me! I don't want you to blacken his name or insult his family and friends, and I certainly don't want you slandering Alziana! I love him and I don't want to see him hurt!"

Manny stayed quiet and resumed polishing his sword, casting glances over to her as she paced back and forth once more, until she flopped onto the bed and lay there on her back.

"Gods, I beseech you, please keep him safe, don't hurt us or tear us apart... deliver him to my arms in good health and-"

Before she could finish she prayer, Shiala heard the door open and saw Marcus's cloak get thrown onto a spare chair where it could drip. She jumped off of the bed, leaping into Marcus's arms as he walked further into the room, squeezing him tightly and clinging to his body with a death grip, bringing her legs up and using them to help keep hold of him. She knocked him back a step or two as a result, but he regained his footing and hugged her as tightly as he could, rubbing the side of his head against hers affectionately.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a worried tone.

"I am now..." He whispered to her, running his hands along her back, feeling happy to have her with him once more. She let go of him enough to stand face-to-face with him, until she spotted something on his right arm and tried to look at it to work out what it was.

On Marcus's right arm, between his elbow and shoulder, was the symbol of the Octotheist religion; eight circles on the edge of a larger circle, traced onto his skin with a black dye and a very thin paintbrush. Shiala gasped and looked back up at him, and he gave a small smile, saying softly, "I ended up at a Yoshian church, and... well, one thing led to another. I think I've made the right decision, though... the Yoshi who was there said that it would come off but my belief would remain, symbolic of the way that things that disappear are never truly gone."

Manny had also spotted the symbol and ran forward to look, before smirking and giving Marcus a solid backslap. "Good choice, Marcus... I can tell just by looking at you now you've already changed. What made you decide to convert?"

The brown Yoshi put his hands on his friends' shoulders, saying, "Let's just say that I finally found some answers to questions I've been asking myself a long time... and I previously never could answer. Once I actually listened, and thought about what Octotheism says... it made so much sense to me I knew I'd be stupid to deny it any longer."

He pulled the two of them into a group hug and they both hugged back, before Marcus broke away and told them, "It's stopped raining, by the way. Shall we go out and see the city some more?"

"Yeah, sure." Manny replied, nodding. "I'm going to go get Visali and head back to that bar I was at last night, though, but I'll wait until it's dark. Until then... let's go!"

* * *

Marcus quite liked the city as it was now; there were only a few people on the streets, as most people were waiting to make sure the rain wasn't going to start again, but it wasn't completely deserted. He was walking along under his cloak with an arm around Shiala, and Manny was walking next to them, also wearing his cloak, talking amiably to the other two as they walked.

"Hey, Marcus, if we find enough silver to make a sword, do you want to wield it, or should I?"

"Ah, you can have it, Manny... I'm not a good swordsman, but you've had some practice."

"Okay... but let's wait until we get to Sansata to look. I don't really like the idea of carrying a second sword or several lumps of silver across country to the next city..."

"Hey, Manny, once this is over with, what do you plan to do?"

"I'm not sure, really... I might come back here and see if Visali can recommend a good course at the University... why, what about you?"

"I don't know either." Marcus answered. "I might go back to the feral village with Shiala... but then again, I might have more to do..."

"Pardon?"

"With me being a saviour and all... I may have to keep fighting after we take down Foryo..."

"Yeah, I knew that, but I was talking about once we'd completely finished everything... assuming we're all still alive, of course. Why'd you want to go the feral village?"

"It'd be a nice, peaceful life, you know? Just me and Shiala living together... away from all the stresses and worries of city life... no rent, no food bills, no money worries at all... just living off the land with someone I love."

"Well, it sounds idealistic, but I don't know if I'd be cut out for that sort of life... but I could come and visit you, right?"

"Of course! You'll still be my friend, I imagine..."

As they passed by an alleyway they heard a high-pitched cry, and turned to look in the direction it came from. Despite being sheltered by tall buildings on both sides, enough light was shining into the alley for the three Yoshies to see an appalling sight.

Four humans, teenage males, had a green baby Yoshi less than half their size, and were kicking it between them like a ball, laughing whenever it screamed in pain and clearly revelling in the torture they were inflicting. There were streaks of blood on the cobblestone road, and the baby was bleeding from many points on its body, sometimes in small trickles, sometimes in a steady flow. As one kick carried it onto to the middle of the alley and it landed on its front, its gaze caught that of the three Yoshies, and it feebly reached out for them for a moment before it was kicked again.

"This is sickening." Manny murmured, narrowing his eyes in disgust.

"I can't watch..." Shiala said, looking away.

Marcus remained silent for a moment, before taking long strides forward with his cloak billowing out behind him until the humans stopped as they noticed the visitor. The brown Yoshi clenched his fists and demanded, "Why are you torturing that baby?"

"Don't try to stop us." One of them said. "Or they'll never find your body..."

All four of them pulled knives out from their pockets and brandished them at Marcus, who stood there unimpressed. "Just hand it over and I may just let you live..."

"You want him?" Another taunted. "Go get him!"

He ran up to the little baby, who had been trying to crawl away, and kicked it hard at an angle so that it went flying up into the air and smacked against a brick wall, leaving a blood stain where it hit the bricks before falling down onto its front and crying. An uncontrollable rage came over Marcus, and he felt his hands twitching by his side as he tried to restrain himself from running forward and trying to strangle the nearest human. Marcus edged his way over to the little Yoshi, but just as he was about to bend down and pick it up, the four teenagers set upon him and he was forced back, quickly dodging a couple of stabs from the ones who got close to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marcus saw the little baby look up with its big, saddened eyes, and Marcus turned back to the humans, staring the nearest one in the eyes. Fury overcame him, and he raised his right hand up towards the human with the fingers spread out, but what happened next took him completely by surprise...

As though his anger reached a peak, he felt a wave of something pass through him and focus at his fingertips, where a small, red pentagram of light formed and faded before purple bolts of what looked to be electricity blasted out from his hands and struck all four humans, knocking them off their feet. All this happened in a single second, and a stunned Marcus stood there frozen to the spot with his arm extended, unable to comprehend how, or indeed what, he had just done.

Seeing the humans starting to get to their feet, Marcus narrowed his eyes and bluffed, "Get out of my sight or I'll do it again!", while trying to sound confident and not somewhat scared. They scrambled to their feet and took off like a shot, running out of the alley and down the road, past a completely astounded Manny and Shiala, staring at Marcus with wide eyes and open mouths.

Trying to act like nothing had happened, Marcus ran over to the baby Yoshi and picked it up, detecting faint breaths from it accompanied by weak whimpers of pain. It was badly injured, but still alive, and the look in its bright eyes was one of hopelessness and despair. Marcus gently touched the tip of its nose with his index finger and comfortingly said, "Don't worry, it's okay... I'll take you somewhere safe..."

It clutched at his chest and rested its head on his skin, while blood ran down from a large abrasion on the side of its head, and tears streaked down its white cheeks. Cradling the little one, Marcus strode back towards Manny and Shiala, who stepped backwards as he approached them and made warding signs with their hands, but Marcus no longer attempted to disguise his feelings and called out to them in a wavering voice, "I don't know how I did that... but... I have no intentions of attacking you... so please, just come here and co-operate..."

Slowly and uneasily, his two friends stepped forwards, keeping their eyes on him as they nervously approached him, weary of being stuck down themselves by whatever power Marcus had just displayed. Shiala was the first to overcome her fear and come close to Marcus, cautiously standing next to him and putting an arm around him as he held the baby close to his chest.

"Daddy..." he heard it cry in Yoshian, and Marcus tried to cradle it in his arms.

"Don't worry... I'll find your daddy..."

"No... daddy's gone... mommy's gone..."

Marcus gently hugged the baby. "I can find them, everything will be okay... just hang on..."

"No, no... they're gone, they're dead..."

Marcus fell silent, and Shiala held her arms out so that Marcus could hand the little Yoshi over to her. Although it was generally just a smaller version of themselves, it wore no saddle, its tail was very small, and its head was out of proportion to its body moreso than usual. It feebly held onto Shiala's orange chest, and she hefted it up onto her shoulder so it could wrap its arms around her neck, keeping it there for a moment before asking, "Why did those people attack you?"

"I tried to get away..." it replied faintly, and Marcus could see its eyelids droop slowly. "My parents are dead... mommy... daddy... both gone... I got sent to a big place with lots of other kids with no parents... but they were all humans... they teased me... they picked on me... I tried to escape... but those four... they came after me... and hurt me... I don't wanna die..."

"You won't." Shiala said softly, patting its back with one hand. She could see Marcus and Manny standing side-by-side, watching her as she consoled the little orphan. "We know someone who can make you better..."

"I don't wanna go back to that place." The baby sniffled. "Don't send me back... please..."

"We're not humans." Shiala replied, with a biting tone to her voice. "We won't hurt you. We're going to make you better. But tell us... what's your name?"

"Tammy." The baby replied in a very faint voice. "Short for Tamaroro... but Tammy... sounds like... girl's name..."

Tammy's voice went very quiet, and his head sagged sideways on Shiala's shoulder, prompting the red Yoshi to take him off her shoulder and hold him in front of her. "Tammy? Are you okay?" She asked, but there was no reply.

"C'mon, get up..." She said softly, starting to walk forwards, before breaking into a run, followed closely by her companions as they raced back to Visali's flat, hoping against hope to find Sira there...

**_To be continued..._**


	44. Chapter Forty Three: Questions Without A...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 43 - Questions without answers**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Marcus was sitting outside Visali's flat with his arms around his knees, crouched down with his cloak over him, staring down at the floor. He hadn't gone inside, nor had anyone come out to see him, and he had a very good idea why, which he was pondering over as he sat motionless on the floor.

_What did I do back there?_

Not even with his newfound knowledge of Octotheism did Marcus find comfort nor an answer to this question. He held his arm out and stared at the palm of the hand that had fired off the blast of energy, though he couldn't see any difference to how it had looked before. Even the ring on his finger looked the same, the gold still shining, the rubies still as pretty as they had been when he had first seen it, held in Alziana's outstretched hand...

_More to the point... how did I do it?_

He had been angry... furious that anyone could inflict such pain on a little baby... but he had been angry before, and nothing like this had happened. Maybe it was connected to something recent... he'd become seventeen recently, but that probably wasn't it... it wasn't going to be Shiala... what could it be?

Another thought crossed his mind. If he learned how to control this power, could he stop himself from using it needlessly? Perhaps he'd use it to win any fight he got into... and he might let it corrupt him, using it to extort, threaten, or worse...

Some of what the gods mentioned went through his head, and he nodded slowly to himself. They didn't want to tell him for his own protection... and now, he understood what they meant, and silently, he made a vow never to use or attempt to use his strange powers, no matter what.

The door opened slowly, and Marcus looked up to see Shiala's gentle face peek around it, looking at Marcus carefully, before she cautiously stepped outside and bent over to put a hand on his shoulder. He stood up, and she hugged him tightly, sniffling a little, but no other words passed between them; he knew that she still trusted him, and she knew that he still cared for her.

"Marcus... I'm scared... for the first time in my life, I'm truly scared..."

He gave her a consoling pat on the back and replied, "I think I know why... but please, trust me, there's nothing to be afraid of... I have no intentions of attacking you or hurting you in any way... I love you, Shiala, and any wound I were to inflict upon you would hurt me just as much."

She swallowed heavily and continued, "That's not what I'm afraid of... I have no doubts that you won't hurt me, or try to, but... I... Marcus, let's go outside, I really need to talk to you... alone."

* * *

Manny gently touched the little baby's nose with the tips of his fingers, praying under his breath for Tamaroro's recovery as Sira sat patiently next to the bed the green Yoshi kid had been lain out on. Even with the aid of her magic, he had still not roused, and Sira had said that it would be touch-and-go as to whether he would recover from the blood loss, which her magic couldn't cure. She had been quite shocked at first when Shiala had brought him in, even allowing a tear or two to trickle down her cheeks, but she said nothing except for the incantations of the spells she used to heal the battered child.

Visali was being oddly quiet, pacing back and forth with his hands behind him, and Dave was staring silently at the baby in partial shock and partial awe, amazed himself at how anyone could hurt something that he found so cute and endearing. Manny had simply decided to stay with the baby out of a lack of little else to do, wary of talking to Marcus but also not wanting to speak of what his friend had done to the others present.

After a period of time, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see Visali standing there, who beckoned to him and motioned for him to go out of the bedroom, heading for the door with the blue Yoshi in tow. "I can't take this... I'm going to Club Veils for a bit. Do you want to come?"

Manny was about to decline, but felt that he'd need a drink eventually, and grabbed his cloak, dropping his sword down next to the table beside the sofa, along with his knives. Even if someone attacked him, he didn't think he'd feel like putting up a fight anyway.

* * *

"Marcy, have you ever heard of Psionics?"

Somewhat comforted by hearing her use her pet name for him, Marcus shook his head as he stood face-to-face with her outside on the street. It was getting colder as the day became night, and he was grateful for having his cloak wrapped around him, providing some shelter from the wind coming up behind him.

"No, I haven't. What is it?"

"It's an ancient supernatural power supposedly given to all those who are descendants of Karshina... a power so destructive and chaotic that it could supposedly destroy the world if put into the wrong hands. They say that feral communities in days gone by were able to use Psionics... one of the reasons they were hunted down and massacred by the humans." Shiala paused to spit in distaste at the mention of them, before continuing. "Not all feral communities could still use it, but that didn't stop the humans..." she paused to spit again, "...from trying to kill us all. They say that the last feral community that could use Psionics was exterminated in 2063, but... it is also said in some of our legends that anyone with feral blood has the potential."

"It all fits in with what the gods said..." Marcus murmured absently. "Feral heritage... a great power... a more powerful effect if I had a child with you rather than Alziana... it all fits... but it creates more questions than it answers..."

Shiala reached up and put a soft hand on the side of his face. "I'll be by your side no matter what, but... they say that some Psionics users were corrupted by their power, moreso with the greater ones, and that the more they used them, the eviller they became..."

"I won't use them." Marcus said flatly. "I won't... I won't put myself or you or anyone else in danger because of them. There's no point in doing that... it'll be a senseless waste."

"It's okay." Shiala said tenderly. "I'll still love you, no matter what happens to you... my feral instincts take over some times, but I can repress them enough to make what we have work..."

"You shouldn't be hiding anything." Marcus whispered softly, leaning forwards and rubbing noses with her. "You won't be Shiala if you're concealing part of you..."

She rubbed back, before tilting her head to give him a kiss, but was interrupted when the door to the building Visali lived in was flung open, and both he and Manny walked briskly out of it, blanking Marcus as though he wasn't there, striding past and going around the nearest corner.

Marcus gave a low sigh, and Shiala stroked his fins lovingly. "He's just a little confused by all this... wouldn't you, if Manny suddenly started throwing lightning around, or juggling fireballs, or something like that?"

He gave a quiet chuckle, and was about to reply when Shiala kissed him, putting everything else out of his mind as he put his arms around her and returned it, drowning out his worries in a flood of hormones, pleasure, and a strong feeling of love...

* * *

"Look, he's coming to!" Dave cried, pointing at the baby Yoshi. Sira looked over and got to her feet quickly, coming over to it and leaning across as it gave a feeble whimper and crouched into a foetal position. The pink Yoshi gently put her hands under its back and lifted it up, cradling it in her arms carefully as it opened its eyes and looked around.

"Where... where's that nice Yoshi who saved me?" it asked in Yoshian.

"Marcus?" Sira replied, and it nodded. "He's just outside, I believe... if not, he'll be back some time."

"I wanna thank him..." It said meekly. "He saved my life... I'd be in the afterlife with mommy and daddy if it hadn't been for him..."

"He'll be back, don't you worry... Tammy, is it?" She replied with a smile.

"Yes, Tammy..." it answered, looking around, until it turned its head to look behind it and caught sight of Dave. Tammy gave a cry of fright and scurried up out of Sira's hands, over her shoulders, and leapt down onto her saddle, crouching with its hands over its eyes and whining.

"Oh... uh, Tammy, this is Dave... he's a friend... he won't hurt you... and if he does, he'll suffer, _won't he_?"

She put a very malicious tone in her voice during the translation, and Dave swallowed heavily, managing a weak, "Yes..."

Slowly, the baby lifted its hands and let Sira take him from her saddle, carrying him over to Dave so that he could wave to the little child and show he had no hateful intentions towards it. Sira then cradled Tammy again and crooned, "So, Tammy... what happened to your parents?"

"They were killed..." Tamaroro replied quietly. "I dunno why... I don't know who by... I ran and hid when they came... I saw one of them, but... I couldn't stop them from killing mommy and daddy..."

Sira decided not to press the matter. "Well, we'll look after you now, okay?"

"Thanks!" it cried cheerfully, grabbing hold of her chest and hugging tightly.

"You're welcome." She replied cheerfully, ignoring Dave as he shrugged and held his hands out to his sides, asking for a translation.

* * *

All was quiet within the hotel room, except for that faint, wet sound audible when you are close to people who are kissing repeatedly, and the occasional shuffle of bedclothes as Marcus and Shiala lay on top of them, their lips firmly locked, everything forgotten except each other, the skin on their chests rubbing gently as they moved during their kisses. Kissing was all they were doing, as Marcus knew when to stop; though they had taken off all of their gear and left it strewn around the floor from their frenzy to remove it, they had gone no further than the intense, passionate kisses they were sharing, and the close contact that they enjoyed so much.

Marcus was, as the humans sometimes said, 'in heaven'; every moment was one of complete and utter pleasure, his senses awash with joy, and a feeling of total bliss came over him as they continued their embrace. He was lying on his back with Shiala on top of him, his arms firmly grasped around her slender body, feeling happier than he ever had before in his life as they repeatedly kissed on the bedclothes, alone together, the only time they could fully express their feelings for one another...

_I never want to lose this_. Marcus thought, as he enjoyed the warm feeling she gave him.

* * *

"Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, sir!" came the reply.

Foryo nodded to himself quietly as he gazed through his crystal ball once more. Another night's worth of scrying had finally pinpointed 'Marcus' in the city of Corvan... and Foryo had a few people that could take him out before he even got to Sansata. He was damned if he was going to listen to any Yoshi, God of Death or not, telling him how to attack his targets, or to stand back entirely.

"I want you to find and locate the brown Yoshi known as 'Marcus'... he slipped through my net at Lince, so I'm counting on you to get him, or get one of his friends and use them to find him. He has red eye outlines, so he should be easy to spot if you get close to him."

"Yes sir!" His operative replied. Only her head was visible in the crystal; she looked much like a Yoshi, but had the view been able to show more of her, it would be clear she was much, much more...

"I don't like dealing with normal Yoshies, but I feel I can trust you. I don't care how you do it, just kill him. You should be able to get the city guards to help... he's accompanied by a feral Yoshi, and they're still looking for them. He'll probably protect her and get landed in prison... and they'll both be executed, if I know the city guards of Corvan."

"Understood, sir."

"And if you fail..."

"I don't need to be told, sir!" she hastily replied, her voice not carrying so much as a shred of fear or hesitation.

"Still... if you fail, and if he doesn't kill you... when I get hold of you, you'll be worse than dead..."

**_To be continued..._**


	45. Chapter Forty Four: Double Cross

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 44 Double-cross**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"Yasei-Yeiko will see you now." Gemma said to them, leading them across the club floor to a partially concealed, guarded door at the far end of the club. Manny had managed to nurse just a single drink while he had been waiting, but Visali had put away three times as much, leading Manny to the conclusion that his companion spent a fair number of his free nights at the club's bar.

"Sounds like an odd name for a Yoshi." Manny murmured, as the guards either side of the door – female Yoshies under light leather armour, Manny noted – frisked them for weapons and let them through when they found none.

"She's... well... you'll find out soon enough." Gemma replied mysteriously, leading them through the door and into a narrow, dimly lit corridor, and all the way down to the end of it, where a double door barely smaller than the width of the corridor spanned the end of the wall. It had latch rings instead of door handles, and Gemma lifted one of them up, turning it to the side and pushing the door open for the two male Yoshies to see inside.

It was a fairly small room, but there was an alcove set into the far side, obscured by semi-transparent, yellow silk hangings, and a few dark red curtains tied back against the edges of the alcove. A multitude of candles behind the hangings cast a silhouette of a Yoshi-shaped creature onto the silk, and wall-mounted torches illuminated the rest of the room, showing little other than a small treasure chest, a furry carpet extending from under the silk, and a chair off to one side on which Maria was sitting. Dressed in various veils like Gemma, and carrying an uncomfortably familiar whip, she nodded at Manny in recognition as he and Visali stepped inside cautiously.

"Don't worry." She said lightly as she noticed his eyes fixed on the whip, "I won't use it unless you try to pick a fight."

"I doubt that they'll do that." A low, feminine voice said from behind the hangings. "Two males, is it?"

"Yes, just two." Gemma said in confirmation. "They've already been searched."

"That's good. You may leave us now." The voice commanded, and the two veiled Yoshies left the room, closing the doors with an ominous, echoing slam.

After a moment of complete silence, the voice addressed them, "Greetings. I am Yasei-Yeiko Maverra, the proprietor of Club Veils. If you would be so kind, please remove your saddles and saddlebags before you come forward..."

After a hesitant pause, Manny slipped off his saddlebags and undid the buckles on his saddle, making his way forwards as a slightly impaired Visali attempted to do the same, lagging behind as his shaking hands fumbled with the silver buckle.

Ahead of him, parting the yellow silk, Manny's eyes widened and he let out a gasp as his gaze fell upon the source of the voice, and his mind frantically worked for a moment to accept what it was seeing sitting on the edge of an enormous cushion much like the ones in the feral village. 'Yasei-Yeiko' looked like a regular purple Yoshi for the most part... except that the curve of her back was different, as though she could stand vertically, her tail was thinner, her arms and legs longer, her hands four-fingered instead of three-fingered...

"Never seen an Anthro Yoshi before?" Yasei-Yeiko asked, cocking her head a little and making her shoulder-length brown hair shift to one side. "I'm not surprised, really... considering how many of us got killed off by the humans. It's amazing that there's any left."

Manny remained silent, still staring, feeling rather uncomfortable in the small space, accompanied not only by the strange Yoshi, but by far more candles than he liked. The silk trapped the heat inside the alcove, and he could feel that he was starting to sweat, but it didn't matter to him; he was transfixed on her body, completely covered by veils except for her head and arms, but in particular, the top of her chest...

"Stop staring at them, would you?" She snapped, after he didn't move for a few moments. "Just tell me why you're here and what you want to know... normally, it costs a lot of money just to get into this chamber, but Gemma said you needed to ask me something, and I trust her. I hope that trust wasn't misplaced."

"Uhh... yeah..." Manny began, forcing his attention span back to the present. "She told me that you could tell me something about a wizard called Foryo."

She looked at him questioningly for a moment, before nodding and leaning back a little. "Yes, I know him. He's in Sansata. What do you want with him?"

"Me and my friend... not Visali, wherever he is, but Marcus... we're looking for Foryo to hunt him down and kill him in retribution for the destruction of our hometown, and the deaths of everyone we ever knew."

Yasei-Yeiko's eyes went wide suddenly, almost as if she recognised something, before she put on a sly smile and looked him in the eyes, putting on a heavily seductive tone. "I see... perhaps this has been the time I've been waiting for..."

"Pardon?" Manny asked, stepping forwards.

"Foryo, my master, is the only reason I'm still alive, but he has treated me so badly that I would like to pay him back... perhaps you could help me do that. You say your friend is called Marcus?"

"Yes... why?"

"My master wants him dead... he told me that he had several visions, slightly blurry, but they all contained a voice giving him vague, unclear instructions... and he identified the voice as that of _his_ master, the God of Death and Destruction."

Manny stared in wide-eyed shock as she continued. "He told me that the Lord of Darkness instructed him, without giving reason, to hunt down and destroy a brown Yoshi by the name of Marcus, supposedly the sixth saviour. Foryo's an accomplished oracle, you know, and he found Marcus very quickly... before taking a squad of mercenaries and levelling Marcus's entire village to make sure he was dead."

"By the gods..." Manny murmured to himself, remembering the destruction of his home.

"Apparently, though, it seems that he didn't kill Marcus... and now he's ordered me to kill him, but if he really is the next saviour, he should be able to banish Foryo back to the pit from whence he came... the underworld."

She let her words hang in the air for a moment, before raising her hand and beckoning for Manny to come closer. "Come here... let me see how strong you are, whether or not you stand a chance against my master..."

Stepping forwards, Manny took a seat beside her on the cushion as she indicated, watching her lie on her front, and hold her arm in a position to prepare for an arm wrestle, an offer that Manny took up immediately. He could see muscles on her sleek arms, uncovered by veils, and clasped hands with her before pushing as hard as he could in an attempt to bring her arm down. Surprisingly, she pushed back harder, and veins stood out on Manny's arms as he struggled against her, but as soon as he thought he had lost, her strength faltered and Manny managed to slowly push her arm all the way around, forcing the back of her hand down onto the bed covers.

"Not bad..." she said, rubbing her arm gently with her other hand. "You are fairly strong... but you'll need strength of mind to overcome your adversary, not just muscle."

Manny was about to reply after thinking for a few moments, but she advanced on him and grabbed hold of his arms, pulling him over to her and locking him into a deep, forceful kiss, and Manny started to kiss back once he got over the surprise...

Visali, meanwhile, had managed to jam the strap and buckle together, only making it worse the more he tried to undo the damage. Frantically working at it as he heard Manny and whoever it was kissing, he knocked his saddlebags off and they dropped to the floor, and the flap opened on one of them, spilling the contents onto the floor.

"Great, just great." He muttered, attempting to gather the coins, keys, personal pictures, and his other belongings that had been strewn about. Finally retrieving his things and getting his saddle off his back, he walked forward just as he heard a low groan from Manny, then total silence.

"Manny?" He asked, whipping back the silk curtains, and gasped.

Manny was lying facedown on the floor with a small needle embedded in the back of his neck, breathing softly as he lay there either asleep or unconscious. Some kind of half-human, half-Yoshi creature looked up at Visali, rising to its – probably hers, given the hair – feet, and gave him a hard stare.

"He'll be very useful to my master..." she said in a cold voice. "He was a fool to believe that someone trusted with the kind of information I know would defect to the side of a weakling like him. You, however, I have no need of... and now that you know what has befallen your comrade, I'm afraid that you cannot leave here alive."

In a single fluid movement, she cast off her veils, revealing her smooth, purple, mostly Yoshian body, covered only by a shiny black leather leotard cut to accommodate her longer and thinner than usual tail. She brought up her arms in a defensive stance, and Visali caught a glimpse of a tattoo on the back of her purple hand, a cross with four dots...

_The mark of the assassin's guild!_

She tensed her legs, and then with a battle cry of "Kiyaaaaaaaah!" she leapt for him, planting a solid punch on his nose before he could react. Stumbling backwards, he was struck across the chest by a powerful chop and took a kick to his chest, cracking two ribs from the force of it. Visali lost his balance and fell onto the floor, allowing Yasei-Yeiko to plant a black-booted foot over his throat.

"You're not up to much, are you?" She mused in a disappointed tone. "I was expecting a little more from someone who took out a seventh-level assassin... almost, anyway."

"W...what...?" Visali gasped, struggling to breathe as she pressed down on his windpipe. "X...Xenly...?"

She gave an "Mm-hm..." noise, accompanied by a self-satisfied smirk. "She showed up at the guild here in Corvan and gave us her story. You gave her quite the fright there, but she'll make a fine addition to our ranks... however, here is where your life ends, for you're up against the best assassin in the whole city..."

Visali suddenly lashed out at the leg not over his throat and tripped her, gasping loudly for breath as he scrambled to his feet. Within moments she was upon him again, and thrust her elbow into his chest so hard she cracked his sternum and shot a spurt of blood out from his mouth, following up with a flat-footed kick that sent him flying backwards into the nearest wall. He slid down to his knees and fell to all fours, looking up just in time for her to kick him squarely in the jaw and send the back of his head smashing into the bricks behind him.

"Weakling." She spat, grabbing his limp form by the back of the neck and hauling him up to her level. "Just like your friend there... so weak, so oblivious to what's happening around you..."

She threw him to one side and he tripped over his feet, falling onto his back again and barely managing to roll out of the way of her hardened leather boot, getting to his feet despite the searing pains across his body and his blurring vision. Leaping into the air, she came down with both feet hard on his chest, forcing more blood up through his mouth and sending him backwards as she gracefully landed on her feet, ready for any counterattack. Flattened against a wall, Visali struggled to stay conscious, let alone remain upright, and she spun around to deliver the finishing kick, using such force that the point of her shoe was driven though his chest and into his right lung, puncturing it.

"Prepare to die, weakling." She taunted, stepping back to deliver the fatal blow.

Visali was hunched over, with one hand over the gaping wound on his chest, barely managing to keep his head up to look at her. _So this is how it ends..._ he thought.

_Sklá shlo ka míyeva... 'And thus, I die'._

Jumping high into the air, she came down on him and closed her legs around his waist, simultaneously wrapping her lips around his and forcing a kiss upon him as she tightened her hold with her legs, pushing on his shoulders with her hands. The opposing forces were too much, and with a sickening snap, Visali's backbone broke into two, and his body sagged as Yasei-Yeiko separated from him and stood beside the corpse, with a cruel, twisted smile on her face.

"Another one falls the Kiss of Death... I'm sure my new student will find that amusing. For now, however," she said to herself, turning around, "I have more important duties... such as the interrogation of Marcus's friend, here."

She knelt down by Manny's sleeping form and ran a hand over his fins. "You are mine, now... you now belong to me, and soon enough, so will all your secrets..."

**_To be continued..._**


	46. Chapter Forty Five: So Much Different, S...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 45 - So much different, so much the same**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"Arms back!" the silver Yoshi shouted, watching her students attempt one of the most basic parts of being an assassin; practising throwing objects to the point where your aim was nothing short of perfection. She had them using throwing stars against a large target on the other side of the room, with concentric circles painted on it, and these particular throwing stars were colour-coded to be matched to the student.

"Throw!" she shouted, watching them bring their arms forward and release the stars with a little flick of their wrists. Ten differently coloured stars flew across the room and embedded themselves in the target in different places, though after practising for many hours into the night their aim had improved considerably. The silver Yoshi acting as a sensei was pleased with this, but knew from her own lengthy training that many more onerous hours would be spent like this until they were able to land successive throws in exactly the same spot.

As she was about to go and collect the stars, the door behind her opened and two Birdos walked in, carrying a large, tied sack, and dropped it at her feet. "To Tsi-Lau, from Yasei-Yeiko." One of them said, before leaving immediately.

The silver Yoshi nodded to herself in contemplation. After arriving at the guild and displaying her aptitude, she had been welcomed with open arms and was working towards getting the next rank where she could hone some of her deadlier techniques even more, like the use of Chi. Nobody who had ever known her would recognise her now; aside from her drastic skin colour change, she had switched her white boots for spike-soled ones, and had stamped both them and her saddle with the guild's emblem. She had also switched her sword scabbards for black leather ones, tied a special ribbon around the sword handles for grip, and fixed yellow tassels onto the end, making them look different enough to not be easily recognised. As a final touch, she had tattooed the backs of her hands with the guild's emblem, and cut herself in many places with a special needle tipped with a chemical that caused the wounds to heal in such a way that a black scar would forever remain there.

_I am Xenly no longer... that call sign will soon be someone else's, I imagine. Now I am Tsi-Lau, '_The Fatal Blades_', named after my fighting style using two swords. I am returning to the only way of life I know, the way of the assassin._

"Carry on." She ordered her students, as she bent down and untied the top of the bag, taking a look inside and staring at its contents.

Inside was the body of a Yoshi, his skin fading from red to orange towards his tail, with blood encrusted around his mouth, dark bruises on his chest, and a large, gaping hole in his lung. He looked to be in a very odd position, which Tsi-Lau soon discovered was due to a broken back, cleanly sheared, accompanied by heel marks of a shoe just below the break.

_The work of the Kiss of Death; I cannot mistake it, though I have only seen it once..._ the silver Yoshi thought. _So, Visali is dead, not by my hand, but the hand of my sensei... no matter. I would have killed him anyway._

Tsi-Lau reached into her saddlebags and withdrew a scrap of vaell and a writing knife. Cutting in clear letters of the Yoshian alphabet, she wrote out a message, put away the knife, tied the sack closed again, and made to leave the room.

"Your lessons are over." She told the class. "Remember to practice often, for a true aim can make the difference between success and failure, life or death. _Vha khoda ví tsiya_." _The skilled shall prevail_.

She left abruptly, walking as quickly as she could with Visali's body weighing her down, dragging it back over to the two Birdos who did most of the paperwork, aged assassins retired from their trade.

"I need this dumped somewhere." She said, indicating the sack.

"Anywhere in particular?" The nearest one asked, and Tsi-Lau nodded in response.

"I have a location in mind..." she said quietly, handing him a gold coin. "Do it right away, while I go make a delivery. Get it delivered before the sun rises if you possibly can..."

* * *

Marcus was sleeping peacefully as the morning became early afternoon, lying on his side with his arms around Shiala as they both lay under the covers together, though she was half-awake, wanting to leave Marcus to his dreams as his touch brought her a comforting warmth.

_I wonder if my father would have been pleased with me for pairing with Marcus..._ she thought to herself. _Someone who can use Psionics... he's not as muscular as most ferals, but he has a gentle personality and his love for me appears to run deep, despite the feelings he retains for Alziana..._

The sleeping Marcus shifted a little, bringing his arms further up her body, and she wriggled a little, smiling, enjoying the soft touch of her skin against his hands, as well as her back against his front. _Whatever happens to us... whether one or both of us dies on this journey, or whether we survive... I will be happy knowing that I have felt love in my life, having experienced the feelings that swarm over my senses so often these days..._

She sighed to herself quietly and dipped her head. _But if I were to die now, he wouldn't accompany me in the afterlife... Octotheist lore says that a loving couple has to mate for that to happen... and he doesn't show any desire to do that. I'm glad that he isn't attempting to force himself upon me, but if I were to die..._

Shiala shook her head. _No, I won't die. I'll make sure of that. Nobody will separate us if I have any say in the matter..._

Suddenly, she became aware of something, and pushed herself upwards so that her torso was at an angle to the bed as she looked at the curtains around her. _Shouldn't Manny have come to annoy us by now?_

Gently, she shifted onto her back and tenderly pried Marcus's hands off of her body, resting them on the blankets before she parted the bed curtains and looked about. There was no sign of Manny; everything looked exactly the way it had done before she and Marcus had pulled the curtains shut the previous night, his unused shield resting against his single bed.

_Maybe he's at Visali's..._ she thought, turning back to rouse Marcus.

* * *

"I can't believe he's still sleeping." One of the two human guards that flanked Yasei-Yeiko murmured.

"I have some pretty potent sleeping toxins... he should be waking up any time soon, though." The purple Anthro replied. "Give me a few minutes to start with before you come and get me... and remember, make it look realistic."

They nodded in confirmation, and she pushed open the door to the prison cell where Manny was still asleep, lying on a bed of straw, snoring away contentedly with a smile on his face as sunlight shone in through a single, small, barred window. The two guards locked the door behind her and left, leaving her to rough up her clothes, even tearing her veils in a couple of places, before sitting down and patiently waiting for Manny to wake up.

After another five minutes, she heard him groan, and ruffled up her hair quickly as he tried to force himself away from the relative comforts of sleep. He sat up and looked around, somewhat puzzled, as Yasei-Yeiko made her way over to him.

"Are you all right?" she asked in a concerned tone. "You were thrown in here, and landed a little awkwardly..."

"I'm fine..." he groaned, "But where am I? And why are you here, too?"

"It seems that an operative of Foryo's was eavesdropping on us... he called some reinforcements and they stormed the club. You fainted while I was kissing you..."

"Never happened before." The blue Yoshi mumbled groggily. "Then what?"

"I was trying to wake you up, but they arrived... your friend tried to stop them, but..."

"But what?" Manny asked. "What happened to Visali?"

In an act that surprised even herself, Yasei-Yeiko let a single tear slide down the side of her face. "They killed him... it was terrible... they had me pinned and made me watch as they kept kicking him, until they drew their swords and killed him outright..."

Manny swallowed heavily. "And then...?"

"They took us here... it's a prison in the middle of the city. The operative will get us charged with something major, and we'll probably be executed... but they may torture us first for information."

She noted that his breathing rate rapidly increased and the colour started to drain from his face a little. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Maybe we can escape... if one of us gets out, we can warn someone... tell me, quick, where is Marcus hiding?"

"In a hotel on Cauta Street." Manny answered immediately. "If not there, then he'll be in the block of student flats down the road, where Visali lives... er... lived."

"If I escape, I'll find him and get him to help you..."

"No, it's too dangerous." Manny said sadly, before reaching into his saddlebags, which had been thrown onto the ground next to him, and pulling out the medal he had been given in Lince. "Give him this... he'll know what's happened. Don't get him to come here, though... he'll almost definitely be caught."

She took the medal cautiously. "You seem to care for him..."

"He's the only friend I have that I know really well... even though it may not always seem like it to him, I always consider him to be my friend... and I don't want to put him in danger... or Shiala."

"Who's Shiala?" Yasei-Yeiko asked, sensing a new lead.

"His current girlfriend... a red feral Yoshi. If anything happened to her, he'd be heartbroken... again... and I don't want that to happen to him."

She made a mental note as she heard heavy footsteps approaching. "Here they come... I have a plan, but if it fails, they may well kill me for attempting to escape..."

Before Manny could reply, he heard a key turn in the lock of the door, and it was thrust open to reveal the two human guards.

"You're first, Anthro." One of them spat. "Our torturer just came up with a new routine... and he wants to see if he can beat his record of four continuous hours of pain."

Yasei-Yeiko flattened against the nearest wall while he came for her, struggling in the grip of the guard as he grabbed her arms and marched her out of the cell, letting her scream and shout for a moment before putting a hand over her mouth. The second guard slammed the door and locked it once they were gone, filling the soundproofed cell with an eerie silence, following the now-free Anthro Yoshi as she strode casually down the corridor.

"Not bad, but you should always keep both hands on the prisoner's arms. If this was real, I could have broken free and slaughtered you both."

"We tend not to get many tenth-level assassins." One of the guards remarked as Yasei-Yeiko straightened her torn veils and headed for the exit, repeating the two locations over and over in her head, along with the name 'Shiala'...

**_To be continued..._**


	47. Chapter Forty Six: Separated From Freedo...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 46 Separated from freedom**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Three loud knocks sounded on the door, waking up a sleeping Sira, who had been lying on the sofa with Tamaroro cradled in her arms, having rocked him to sleep the previous night. "Visali?" she called out, but instead of his voice coming up with excuses for his extreme lateness, she heard Shiala's voice say, "Is he not here? We were hoping he'd come back with Manny..."

Sira moved the slowly rousing Tamaroro to her saddle, and made her way to the door, unlocking and unchaining it to let her visitors in. Marcus and Shiala were standing outside, with the former carrying a large brown shield, and the latter holding something in her hand that the pink Yoshi did not immediately recognise...

"I just found this embedded in your door." She said, handing it over. Sira took it, and felt a chill as she discovered it was a scrap of vaell with a ninja star stuck in it, which had no doubt been holding it in the door.

With shaking hands as the other two Yoshies passed her by and took Tamaroro from her back, she unfolded the parchment and read the message, carved in the clear letters of Yoshian:

_'Sin ki _té_ quason bey Visali, quas wa vha ghasí tlasa mó xavey...'_

The translation hit home hard. _'If you're looking for Visali, look in the alley opposite to this building...'_

After the message there was no name, but instead, a symbol of some kind that she hadn't seen; a cross with four dots...

"I'm, uh, going out for a moment..." Sira declared, crumpling up the parchment. "Go wake up Dave, would you? Be back in a moment... keep Tammy entertained for me."

"Where are you going?" Marcus asked, but Sira was already out the door.

* * *

_There she goes_. The darkened figure thought to itself as it watched from the shadows. _Just like I thought she would... now I must act quickly, as I'm not sure how long she'll stay out of the way..._

"Stay close, Tsi-Lau." Yasei-Yeiko muttered as she emerged from her hiding place, and ran silently over to the doorway she had been watching.

* * *

A light rainfall was just beginning as Sira stepped out of the building and ran straight for the alleyway, hoping it was just a prank being played on her by her jocular boyfriend and his new buddy... an insensitive, cruel joke, but a joke nonetheless... nothing real...

There were only boxes and sacks of trash, but lying on the middle of the alley as opposed to up against the sides was a larger one tied shut at the top, and something about it told Sira it was the one she was looking for. Hoping against hope that she was wrong, that it had just been knocked over, she started to open it, untying the fastenings with her wet, cold, shaking fingers...

A minute later, she was too busy crying to spot a purple, humanlike Yoshi slip into the building behind her.

* * *

"I haven't got a clue about them." Dave murmured, stretching sleepily. "They left their stuff here, that's all I know... he's been out later, mind. Once, I saw him walk directly from Club Veils to the university. He only did it once, though... Sira made sure of that. Considering it's the weekend, he should show up here, just much later than he ought to."

"Still, Manny should have come back, shouldn't he?" Marcus asked.

"Probably, but then again, after the amount of alcohol they might have consumed, _should_ becomes _probably won't_."

Marcus sighed and leaned against the wall, watching Shiala playing with a giggling Tamaroro by tossing him up into the air a little and catching him again, giving bright, cheerful laughs as she did so that warmed Marcus's heart.

_A natural born mother if I ever saw one..._ Marcus mused silently. _I feel bad about my hard-line stance on children... but then again, that was the old me... with Alziana... I'm older now, and maybe once we're done adventuring and I take her back to the feral village..._

A knock on the door interrupted Marcus's thoughts, and he went to answer it, pulling the door open to meet somebody he sincerely hoped was Manny.

Instead, he found a strange-looking purple Yoshi standing in front of him, but before he could properly discern anything other than her vaguely human appearance, she coughed and asked, "Is there a Marcus here?"

"That's me." Marcus replied, letting her step past him.

Tammy suddenly grabbed hold of Shiala's arms as she caught him again, and wrestled free from her grip, jumping out of her arms and into the far room in a motion surprisingly fast for the little baby. Somewhat puzzled, Shiala went after him and was closely followed by Dave as they shut the door to stop him getting back out again.

"Who are you?" Marcus inquired as they sat down on the vacant sofa. "No offence, but you look awful..."

"My name is Yasei-Yeiko Maverra." She replied, smoothing out her hair as best she could. "If you really are Marcus, I have some terrible news for you..."

She reached into her pocket and softly fingered a concealed poison pin for a moment before thinking better of it, withdrawing instead the medal Manny had given to her, and passing it to Marcus. The brown Yoshi drew a sharp breath as he took it, and looked back up into her eyes. "Where is he? What's happened?"

"He is imprisoned in the central city... I was there, too, and barely managed to escape with my life. Unless he, too, can escape from there, he will almost definitely be tortured and executed..."

"No, this can't be!" Marcus said suddenly. "Why?"

"He brought his friend to my chamber at the nightclub Club Veils... and, believe it or not, he told me of a dark and terrible wizard who is a master to me... a master I want freedom from. While we were talking of my defection, another operative, one of my own personal attendants, overheard us and went to fetch the city guard, who stormed the nightclub, captured Manny and me, and killed his friend..."

"Visali? Visali... is dead?" Asked a disbelieving Marcus.

"Yes... they killed him and forced me to watch..."

* * *

"Tammy, where are you?" Shiala called, lifting up the bedclothes on one of the beds. Dave was also looking diligently, but only called out the once and, in his attempt to mimic what Shiala said, made a mispronunciation that prompted a chuckle from Shiala and discouraged him from saying anything else.

_Tíka háy kso?_ She wondered. _Where is he?_

She could hear him sure enough... a little whimper every so often, but not loud enough for her to pin down its origin, nor the vague direction it came from, making her frustrated as she searched. "Tammy, we're not going to hurt you... just come out, okay?"

Pulling back a box of quadra spear parts, she found the little baby hidden behind them and grabbed him before he could escape again, gently but firmly cradling him in her arms. "Why did you run off like that, Tammy?" she asked, trying to sound as caring as possible. "Don't you like it when I play with you?"

"No, no, it wasn't that..." Tamaroro replied meekly. "That person... that purple Yoshi... she killed my parents!"

Shiala's eyes widened for a moment before she put Tamaroro down on the closest bed. "If that's so, then Marcus is probably in grave danger!"

Turning around quickly and going through the door, she strolled confidently up to the purple anthro, still talking to Marcus, who spotted her approaching. Switching to Yoshian, he said, "Ah, Shiala, this... what was it... Yasei-Yeiko... uh, Yasei-Yeiko, this is Shiala... she's my... er... girlfriend."

She nodded and turned around, looking the red feral up and down for a moment before suddenly springing into action. In a single fluid movement she spun around behind Shiala, locked one arm around her neck and drew a short knife from beneath her veils with the other, holding it against Shiala's throat before she even had time to blink.

"Hold it!" She commanded as Marcus reached for his flail. "One false move and she's dead!"

"Who are you, really?" Marcus queried, his hand resting on the handle of his flail, his voice only revealing a slight tone of fear.

"I'm the top assassin for this entire city... and I'm loyal to Foryo, my lord and master! It was me who killed Visali, and imprisoned your friend. Just come along quietly and I won't have to kill him, too, or this little girl here."

"How did you find us?" I've got to stall... maybe she'll let her guard down...

"Your friend was easy." Yasei-Yeiko replied with a smirk. Swishing her hips a little, she continued, "I have my assets and I know how to use them... a little favour from me, and your friend spilled everything. Men are so easily manipulated by the female body..."

"You're lying!" Marcus shouted. "Manny would never betray me!"

"Oh, believe it." She taunted, playing with his mind. "He told me himself, he knew you were his friend, but some things just can't go unsatisfied..."

Marcus's hand clenched around the handle of his flail, but before he could draw it out and make an attack, the door to the far bedroom was flung open, and Dave emerged. "What's all the shouting...?"

Spotting Shiala being held hostage, he grabbed his quadra spear from where it was propped against a bookcase, and hoisted it up onto his shoulder, his free hand on the catch at the side. Yasei-Yeiko spun around, taking Shiala with her, and threatened, "Take another step closer and I kill her!"

"And if you attempt to rescue her anyway..." another voice said from behind Marcus, "You will die, too."

Looking over his shoulder, Marcus set eyes on another assassin, with two long, curved swords drawn that had bright red handles and yellow tassels hanging from them. The Yoshi holding them had a bright, silvery skin tone, several dark scars across her body, and shoes with spikes on the soles instead of any kind of tread.

She looked over to Yasei-Yeiko and tutted twice, before saying, "Sensei, didn't you tell me hostage-taking is an ineffective technique? Let her go and allow her the honour of dying in battle."

"You command me?" the anthro replied. "I suppose I shall so as to be a good example, but do not let it go to your head..."

She released Shiala and pushed her away, watching in amusement as Marcus moved in front of her to protect her, his narrowed gaze firm upon the purple assassin. However, before he could plan anything out, she suddenly became a blur of movement; stripping off her veils and throwing them aside, Yasei-Yeiko dove into one of the many pockets on her tailored leather leotard and withdrew three throwing stars, throwing them in the same single movement at the easiest target; Dave, with his arms up and his body exposed. Unable to react in time, two of the stars embedded in his chest and the third struck his forehead, taking his life before he even truly saw her throw them.

Shiala gave an angry feral war cry, drawing her own dagger from her saddlebags and racing towards Yasei-Yeiko as Marcus lunged for the silvery Yoshi. Shiala's dagger struck that of her opponent, and the nimble feral ducked away from a counterattack before catching a follow-up strike on the blade hilt.

"My, you're good." Yasei-Yeiko taunted, holding her knife steady.

"You'd be surprised at the skill of a feral." Shiala replied, also keeping her own weapon in place. "Knives, bows, swords, you name it, we've been trained from an early age to use it."

"True, but an early age is no match for a lifetime." Were the words that preceded a sudden slash that only grazed Shiala's arm. Striking back, Shiala managed a solid hit against the leather leotard but found that her attack didn't make it through the material.

"It's armoured." Yasei-Yeiko nonchalantly replied as she kicked out with her right foot and sent Shiala back several steps.

Marcus, however, had been holding off Tsi-Lau's multiple strikes until she saw his beloved fall to the ground. Though she got back up immediately, his attention was drawn away just long enough for the silvery assassin to land a kick of her own and knock him into the wall, stunning him momentarily. She whipped a pin out of her saddlebags and pricked his nose with it, putting a powerful sleeping toxin into his bloodstream that knocked him out just as he attempted to get back up. Unnoticed by the other sparring pair, she grabbed Marcus around the neck and pulled him out of the open door, regretting the fact that she couldn't watch her superior fight.

It wouldn't have done her any good, however, as the purple anthro was merely toying with her prey in the way that a cat does before it kills it. With elegant but swift movements of her body and appendages, she seemed to have an incredible knack for staying out of the path of Shiala's attacks. Deciding she had had enough fun, she kicked upwards and connected her boot against the handle of Shiala's knife, knocking it into the air and allowing her to catch it.

Surprisingly, rather than surrender, Shiala merely stayed put and glowered at the assassin, who began to juggle the two knives. "You're very good, I'll give you that. You have some potential, Shiala... I'll make you an offer once and only once. Join the guild, and I'll make sure you get full training... just forget that Marcus ever existed, and you'll live better than any feral ever has or ever will."

"You are applying your own ideologies to a foreign mind. My idea of a fulfilled life is that of any feral's; to be surrounded by family and friends in a self-sufficient community, answering to nobody, free to do whatever we please, bearing the children of the strongest members of the opposite gender. I will never abandon Marcus, and I will never give in to an abomination like you! You are a Yoshi with a human's mentality, and you deserve to die!"

Yasei-Yeiko immediately ceased to juggle the knives and gave a snort. "Very well. You will die regretting those words. _Vhóla Kivaya_!"

From the points of the two daggers, a cloud of misty spray shot forth and surrounded Shiala's head, saturating her senses from her panicked breath of surprise, drowning her consciousness out in a matter of moments. She fell backwards to the floor, only catching the sight of Tamaroro watching in horror through the barely open door, wishing to herself with her last thought that he hadn't had to see her lose...

**_To be continued..._**


	48. Chapter Forty Seven: Making Dreams Come ...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 47 - Making dreams come true**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

When Marcus awoke again, he found himself on a cold, granite floor, and was sure that he was once again meeting with one of the Yoshian gods, but after a few moments of lying there without hearing any voices, he opened his eyes and found that he was in fact in a prison cell. Four stone walls surrounded him, with a solid door set into one, and a window into another, the latter being far too high for him to look out of, and barred to stop him escaping. He found that his cloak had been thrown in a corner of the cell, and that most of his belongings were in his saddlebags, but his flail had been taken away from him lest he try to use it on any guards that showed up.

Looking over to his side, he saw a very poorly-looking Shiala lying on her back on a bed of straw, her soft cheeks a pale orange, her open eyes vacant, her breaths shallow and struggling. Marcus gently reached out to her and ran his hand along her skin, finding it cold to the touch, and knelt beside her with a sigh.

She coughed a couple of times and turned her head in his general direction, but did not appear to acknowledge his presence, and did not address him. Her other half clenched his fists tightly, swearing under his breath at the purple Yoshi, at Manny for betraying him, and himself for failing to keep her safe. He put both hands on her chest and knelt over her, wishing he could say a prayer for her, but he didn't know any of them except the prayer of passing, which he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to say...

A thought crossed his mind that he immediately dismissed, but it came back again; _why don't you try and use your psionics to save her?_ The risk was high, but so was the potential payoff... was it worth it to take a chance? Surely only a little use wouldn't hurt... and it wasn't for destruction, but to save the life of someone he loved... and wasn't that always a good thing?

He looked into her eyes again, seeing the hidden despair, and made a decision, looking back down to where his hands were. Attempting to recall his first use of the strange powers he supposedly had, he thought about how to use them and drew a blank. He hadn't _intended_ to use them... all he had done was raise his hand in a wave of anger, and something had happened that he had never expected.

"I... I've failed you again, Shiala." He whispered softly in Yoshian. "I'm so sorry... I don't know what's wrong with you or how to fix it... I'm sorry..."

She gave no reply, and he closed his eyes, feeling tears slowly starting to well up in the corners of his eyes, but was reluctant to brush them away, not wanting to hide the depth of his feelings for her. "You don't deserve this... you're so young, you should live out your days with someone you love... you shouldn't be here, dying in a prison cell, barely even able to breathe..."

He opened his eyes again, fully aware of the tears washing down his cheeks. "You mean so much to me... there is nothing I wouldn't have done if you had asked... I would have gone to the ends of Chyrus for you, sailed out beyond the eastern isles, ventured into the mountains to the southwest, fought the Koopas in the desert to the north, if only it would have meant I could be with you..."

With a sigh, he sniffled and continued, "You remind me a little of Alziana, but not so much that I'm attempting to relive my memories through you. You're a different person, but you still mean as much to me as she did, if not more... you've changed my life, or what I lived with you, at least, and things will never be the same without you if you leave me..."

He clenched his fists again, resting them on top of her chest. "Something I never told you... I... I've always wanted to quit this adventure, this quest for vengeance, but I kept going nonetheless... I wanted to stop and take you back to your home, and live with you for the rest of my life. I... I wanted a different future to the one I'd expected with Alziana... with her, I just wanted her to be my gentle, loving wife, to be with me always and bring me comfort when I needed it most, but you... you are different. You brought me a different kind of happiness, different pleasures, different feelings... unlike with Alziana, my feelings for you developed over time, ever deepening, ever intensifying... and that changed me. I have different dreams of the future, realities I'll probably never live out... just you and me together in the feral village, chieftain and chieftainess, with the big, strong children you told me ferals prefer..."

He shook his head and looked into her blank eyes once more, spreading his hands out again. "But it will never happen... because of something I never expected would happen. I am Marcus Charris, the sixth saviour of the Octotheist religion, destined to fight until the end of my days and achieve fame at the end of it all. I wish I were able to choose my own life... _choose_ between that, and a life with you, but the decision has been made for me... you're going to be taken away."

Marcus was so upset at first that he did not even notice the low buzzing sound that had started, nor the fact that the palms of his hands were glowing purple. When he finally did see it, it took him by surprise and he lifted his hands away from her, causing a great shock of purple energy to pass from his hands to her body, jolting it suddenly and making her cry out. Before his very eyes, the colour in her cheeks returned, and she slowly began to rise, sitting up slowly as she tried to clear her head.

Still shocked, Marcus looked at his hands, but they looked the same as always, and he raised his gaze to meet with Shiala's. She saw what he had been looking at, and cautiously enquired, "Did you... use psionics...?"

"I didn't mean to!" Marcus protested. "Not that time... I had tried and failed, but I felt my sadness overwhelm me, and I was crying, and then you..."

"Hush." She instructed, putting a finger to his lip. "What's done is done..." Putting on a smile, she added, "I heard what you were saying to me... that was the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say."

Marcus blushed, taken off guard. "I... it just came to me..."

"It's okay." She said, looking around. "The more urgent matter is how we get out of here..."

"Maybe I can blast the door-"

"No." She commanded him. "Don't use your powers if you can possibly help it..."

"But if I don't, what's going to happen to us?"

There was a long, unbroken silence, before Shiala dipped her head. "Okay then... you have a point. They're probably going to execute us. Go ahead and see if you can do it..."

Marcus got up and stood facing the door, with both his arms outstretched and his fingers towards the door. He concentrated hard on the door, visualising in his mind him blasting it out into the corridor or whatever was on the other side, but nothing happened. He tried using his palms, but still, nothing happened, and for many minutes he tried different positions, different angles, different images in his head, but none of them produced an effect.

"I don't understand..." he murmured softly as he gave up and headed back to Shiala. "I used it not too long ago. Why isn't it working now?"

She consoled him with her gentle voice, "Maybe you don't have to intend to use it... maybe there's some secret technique you haven't quite picked up on."

"It's no use anyway. Even if we do get out, I don't have my flail, and I don't fancy my chances trying to get through a prison armed only with my shaky psionics."

He fell silent, and they sat down together on the straw, holding each other around the shoulders as the light inside the cell started to fade as the evening became night, indicating to them both just how long they'd been unconscious. Soon, the only light shining into the cell was that of the larger moon of Chyrus, softly illuminating the couple huddled up against each other.

"Marcus..." Shiala muttered after a long time, "What's going to happen to us?"

"We'll be okay...we'll live, we'll get out of here..."

"No, seriously... no dreams or wishes... what's really going to happen to us?"

Marcus bit his lip before answering. "I think we're going to die."

"So do I." Came the soft, saddened reply.

Separating from her, Marcus leant back and gazed deeply into her red-outlined eyes, and she stared back, before touching noses with him in a show of affection. "I have no regrets, though... you made my life so much better, you made me feel better than I ever have or ever would have. I don't know about the rest of the world, but... you are certainly my saviour."

Marcus chuckled, but she continued, "There is... one thing, though, before I give in... one thing that I want to do before our time on the mortal plane ends."

"Tell me..." Marcus urged, holding her closer to him. "Tell me what it is."

For a moment, she was silent, then she began to breathe heavily and looked away from him, standing up and walking away for a moment as she attempted to regain her composure. Taking Marcus's cloak from the floor where it lay, she walked back over to him and sat down again, draping the cloak around the both of them as best she could.

"I... Marcus..." she started, but stopped again, and he held her close in an attempt to comfort her. She rubbed her head against his for a moment, before she kissed him gently on the lips; a soft, tender kiss that she savoured before breaking away and swallowing heavily in an attempt to calm her nerves. Gathering her courage, she took Marcus's hands in hers and, with all of the determination she had, made her request in the darkened cell.

"Before we die... before it ends for us... will you... please... mate with me?"

Several seconds passed as Marcus thought deeply, whereupon she added, "If we don't then we won't meet up again in the afterlife... and... I love you so much, I... I want to express that in the greatest way that I can, while I still can..."

Marcus closed his eyes and let a long, slow exhalation of breath escape him, before looking back up to her and reaching out with one hand to stroke her soft cheeks. "I have nothing left to lose, except for you... anything that makes you happy will make me happy, too... and... since this is going to be our last night together before the end..."

He took his cloak from her and wrapped it loosely about himself, fastening it at the top with the brooch in his saddlebags, then bringing his arms around her and pushing her down onto the bed of straw.

"I accept." He said softly, breathing heavily. "You told of your feral dreams... I want to make them come true."

"Thank you..." she replied. "I never doubted you for a moment."

* * *

Manny squatted in the corner of his cell. How long had he been here? Yasei-Yeiko hadn't come back, so he could only assume she'd escaped... but was there any way for him to do the same?

"I have to get out of here and warn Marcus... just in case she didn't manage it. But how can I do it when they have my sword?"

The answer came to him a moment later, and he remained awake most of the night, planning his escape from the prison, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.

**_To be continued..._**


	49. Chapter Forty Eight: The God Of Creation...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 48 - The God of Creation and Existence**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

The second time that Marcus awoke to find himself on a cold stone floor, he knew for sure that, this time, he was with another deity. His memories of his night with Shiala were still fresh in his mind as he awoke – or whatever it was he did when he found himself in this place – and he regretted the fact that he had only however many short hours left to keep the memories before his life was taken from him...

Slowly getting to his feet, Marcus turned and found himself in the presence of a green Yoshi with orange fins, who he knew should have been holding a large, golden sword, but instead was carrying a glass orb that was completely black. The Yoshi, like all the other deities, was hovering just a little above the ground, and illuminated in a circle of light that clearly defined his features.

"Greetings, Marcus." The deity said, addressing the brown Yoshi. "I am Eirsir, the God of Creation and Existence... perhaps, I'm sure, you'll like a few minutes to work out why it is _I_ who is meeting with you."

"What do you mean?" Marcus inquired, but received no reply. "I know somebody said that it depends upon my emotions or actions which deity I meet, but you're the only one left... aside from Klashkna. But what have I done that relates to something being created or existing?"

"Think, Marcus." Eirsir urged.

"Well, I... oh, wait a moment... are you saying that... when me and Shiala..."

The green deity nodded. "It was a successful mating for two reasons... the first being that you forged the unbreakable bond of love, and you will be reunited in the afterlife to commemorate this. The other reason being in that you conceived a child from it... even now, as we speak, your first son grows within his egg inside her, soon to be laid and brought into the world."

Marcus shook his head. "It won't do any good... we'll die before he's laid, or even if he is, he won't hatch."

"Maybe, maybe not... you made a correct assumption in that you'll be executed, or at least, they'll attempt to kill you. You must find your way out of this situation, Marcus, and prove yourself to be the true sixth saviour. But first, I must give you this..."

With a broad throwing motion, Eirsir tossed the orb he was holding to Marcus, who caught it against his chest, and immediately felt an immense form of energy radiating from it. Eirsir explained, "That orb only exists on this plane, and will prove a useful tool if you come up against the Lord of Darkness. Should it come into contact with him, he will be sealed inside it by the power of the seven deities, and we can commence the restoration of the world..."

"What's that?"

"Have you little knowledge of history, Marcus? The sword with which I created Chyrus... no ordinary sword, I'm sure you can surmise... had seven gemstones set into the hilt, each of which contained a fundamental power; the four elements, and the three essences of life. With these, I made everything... the land upon which you walk, the air you breathe... well... almost everything. You see, what has always escaped me is the process of evolution. Why do things change? Why did all the creatures and plants I created change themselves from my designs? Were they not good enough? Were they just a starting point? The answer has always eluded me. However, my best shot at an answer is within you, Marcus, and all the other Yoshies... they are, if you will, my greatest experiment. I created beings in my image to see if they, too, followed the path of evolution, and lo and behold, though they changed, it was very little. They became stronger, sure, and smarter... but didn't undergo the incredible changes that everything else did." He chuckled for a moment, and continued, "Did you know that the humans came from monkeys? They were never something I intended to create, just like the Koopas, descended from turtles... only the Yoshies were intentional, as well as the Birdos, another curious test of mine. The ferals were another experiment, as were the anthros, but before I could perform any more of these experiments, Klashkna shattered my sword and left the gods almost powerless... including himself, for the most part, once he was struck down. Should the sword be restored... so will all of our powers."

Marcus nodded solemnly. It was very strange talking to the creator of the world, particularly the way he talked of his _creations_ and _experiments_... and the way that the answers to some mysteries eluded even an omnipotent being.

"May I ask a question?" Marcus said, speaking up at last.

"Of course you may. What do you want to know?"

"Why is there suffering in the world? Why do the humans attack us, why did they used to enslave us, without being punished for what they did? Why are they, the cruellest and by far the stupidest and most worthless of the races, the ones who rule over Chyrus?"

Eirsir smiled, an odd reaction for a question like that. "Had I any power, they would be punished... as the prophecy of the Cursed Yoshi says, one day the land will be cleansed of their vile presence under the seventh saviour. It was only after Klashkna that they became as bad as they are... and I am amazed that the Yoshies have put up with it for so long. Perhaps they need a leader, perhaps they are waiting for the next saviour, I cannot say... but rest assured, the punishment will be delivered one day."

"The prophecy..."

"Correct." Eirsir confirmed. "Sévar will do it, or at least it looks that way at the moment... but the future is as unstable as chaos itself. The future is a curious thing... even though oracles can see it, it can change before their very eyes, and even disappear entirely if they are following a specific timeline. Nothing is definite until it has already happened... and it is too late by then. Such a curious thing..."

Silence fell for a few moments until Marcus decided to ask another question. "You mentioned that your sword was shattered. What happened to the pieces?"

"It's a total mystery." Eirsir answered, his voice sounding a little worried. "Klashkna broke it in order to remove our powers, not knowing it would take away his own once he died... no doubt he intends to repair it. The problem is that when it shattered... it simply disappeared. Nobody knows where the shards are, how many there are, or even whether the sword still exists on the mortal plane. Klashkna is instead trying to gain his own power as Lord of the Underworld by borrowing it from the demons that are there, but I doubt he will be content for long with that... however, we haven't received any trouble from him recently... it's quite disconcerting, almost like he's up to something, hiding behind his manhunt of you..."

Marcus felt a little prickle on his neck, and hurried along with his next question. "How do I use my psionic powers? They could help me escape!"

"I'm afraid you'd have to ask Karshina... I'm not a psychic, nor even a magic or chi user. All I know is that those three forces are linked together by the same ethereal force, a force channelled by those arts into their effects, using one of each of the three parts to a creature; magic uses the body, psionics the mind, and chi the soul. Only assassins know chi any more, and though any feral has psionic potential, you're the last person who's used it to date. Technically it would be possible to learn all three, but in practice, there's too much of a difference... chi is a force of order, the use of which is done through peace of mind, and psionics is a force of utter chaos, used only by a greater force pushing it. All three forces interfere with each other as they attempt to use the same ethereal force, and so it's not possible to use more than one..."

Marcus's vision of the plane flickered for a moment, and Eirsir looked around curiously. "It's time for you to go back... the time of your test is near. Remember the orb, and don't hesitate to use it! You are our only hope, Marcus... the only hope for our world, hence your title of saviour... _shín ki khana bey ah aya tsáníta_." _May you live for a thousand years_.

Marcus nodded, but before he could say anything else, his vision whited out and he slowly regained consciousness in the real world. It was still early morning, and the sun had not yet rose, but the moonlight had faded and Marcus had a hard time adjusting his eyes to the dark. He was lying almost on top of Shiala, with his cloak draped over the both of them to try and bring them warmth, and his arms wrapped around her body lovingly. He smiled once more at his memories, and gently hugged her a little tighter, resting one hand on her belly, underneath which his first child would be growing inside a spotted Yoshi egg.

_If only it didn't have to end this way_... he thought to himself as he fell asleep again, slipping into peaceful dreams of the future...

**_To be continued..._**


	50. Chapter Forty Nine: The Last Day

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 49 - The last day**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

As sunlight poured into the small cell, Shiala abruptly awoke to an intense abdominal pain, and gritted her teeth against it as it seared through her. Marcus was lying with one arm around her, having shifted in his sleep, and she quickly scrabbled out from under him. All night long, her dreams had been deep and peaceful, until they had suddenly been shattered by this agonising pain that was coursing through her lower regions…

Panting and sweating, she dropped onto her back on the floor and lay there until the pain temporarily abated. Looking down, she could see that her body was bloated and swollen between her chest and legs, and an experimental press on the bulge confirmed her worries about what was causing it: eggshell.

_What was I thinking, bringing a child into the world that would only be killed?_

She shook her head and lay back again as the piercing agony began to return. _You couldn't have predicted that, Shiala… okay, so you're both young and therefore fertile, but you didn't know for sure that-_

The pain reached a crescendo and her thoughts were interrupted. She gave a little cry and clenched her fists, determined to be strong, but it was proving too much for the fifteen-year-old feral, and when the excruciating pain continued, she couldn't take it any more and shrieked at the top of her voice…

* * *

When Manny heard the scream, he immediately jumped up off of the floor and ran over to the window, jumping up and grabbing hold of the bars in order to look out through it. He could only see a large courtyard, though it was more like a pen, without any grass and surrounded by huge walls to stop even flutter jumping Yoshies from getting over them. After the next yell, he identified the sound as coming from somewhere to his right, and bit his lip uneasily. That's Shiala's voice… what are they doing to her?

He spotted that the bars he was holding onto were fairly flimsy, rusty iron, and in desperation, he decided to try and see if he could take them out. He started to pull and yank at them, desperately trying to loosen them, working faster the more he heard Shiala yell in pain…

* * *

"Shiala! Are you okay?"

"_Does it look like it_?!?" Shiala shrieked back as the pain picked up again. Normally, she wouldn't snap at Marcus, but it was all too much for her and she didn't have the spare strength to hide her temper.

Marcus ignored the comment and got down beside her, taking one of her hands in his and putting the other around her shoulders comfortingly. "What's wrong?"

"I… ahhh… it hurts… uhhh… I think… I'm… uhhn… laying an egg…"

He swallowed heavily and put a hand on her belly where the bulge was, feeling the eggshell beneath her skin once more. A son, according to Eirsir, but what could he do for it? It would surely die at the hands of the humans…

"Isn't it meant to not be like this?" Marcus asked, trying to dredge up his limited knowledge on baby Yoshies.

"Only with… the older females…" She gasped in reply. "I'm not… mature yet… I'd have to be… eighteen… before I can… properly lay… baby eggs… and besides… the first one… always… aaaagh!"

Cut off by a wave of pain, she gripped Marcus's hand tightly as the ordeal went on. It lasted for almost twenty minutes, and at several points she wanted to lie down and stop, but Marcus drove her on. The moment it was over, she flopped onto her back on the layer of straw and panted for breath, soaked in sweat, the hurt still residing in her lower muscles, her stomach rumbling in protest at a continuing lack of food.

"What colour is it?" She asked weakly, and Marcus replied, "Maroon."

"An interesting colour… that's supposed to be… good luck."

"What is? Maroon?"

"No, no… a baby that matches… the colour of its parents. Like, if… you had a black Yoshi… and a white… Yoshi, and their kid… was grey, it'd… be good luck."

Marcus frowned in thought. "I dunno… I never played with paint much. I'll take your word on that…"

* * *

Manny resigned himself to imprisonment and collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath, his hands rubbed raw and his body weak from hunger. Shiala's screams had stopped, but Manny wasn't sure whether this meant they had stopped hurting her or they had killed her, and suspected the latter with a weight on his conscience. He'd let her come along, after all, and though it would have made Marcus sad to leave her behind, he could've always gone back to her…

The latch on the door was opened, and the blue Yoshi saw two humans enter, both clad in only light armour and carrying nothing but small swords, but much to Manny's shock, they were flanking a fully veiled and respectable-looking Yasei-Yeiko bearing a set of shackles in her hands.

"You!" Manny sputtered, piecing it together as he leapt to his feet. "You're a fake! You used me!"

"I know, how does it feel?" she taunted, shaking her hair. "Your information led me right to Marcus, and his little friend Shiala. We're going to take you, now, to watch them get executed, so you can know exactly what you caused…"

"You're a disgrace to the Yoshies!" Manny shouted. "You're bringing shame to our race by working with the humans! You disgust me, _Kísya_!"

The last word in Yoshian was an expletive that Manny thought fitting to both her appearance and behaviour, and he could see that it angered her, feeling some small comfort from striking a nerve.

"That's rich, _Kayatin_." She swore back, spitting out the word in distaste. "Just for that, you can die along with them. You two, grab him so I can put the shackles on his arms."

The two guards stepped forwards, but Manny was infuriated by her treachery and was determined not to go down without a fight. He cast his mind back to days gone by in the Shoreside Village, where he and Marcus had friendly sparring matches with their weapons, or occasionally just their fists. It was just for fun back then, when neither intended to truly hurt the other, but what Manny had learned fighting his friend came flooding back to his current situation, on which more lives than his hung in the balance…

As soon as they were close enough, he kicked out with one shoe and then the other, landing both hits on the stomach of one guard, putting large force through his leather armour. As the other one brought up his sword, Manny swung around with his foot and planted the shoe sole-first into his chest, then swung around and swept his legs out from beneath him with his tail.

"Get back!" Yasei-Yeiko commanded as they scrambled to their feet. They stepped back and out the door, almost immediately replaced by another assassin with silver skin and several scars.

Tsi-Lau recognised Manny, but managed to hide the telltale flicker of recognition in her eyes as she folded her arms and waited for orders. "Tsi-Lau," her sensei barked, "He's proving difficult, as predicted. Take him down for me and prove your skills."

"Yes, sensei." Tsi-Lau answered in a monotone voice, leaving her swords on her back. She tensed her legs and was poised, ready to strike, narrowing her eyes at Manny for a moment before she leapt forward and dealt him a chop to his chest. He recovered from it and sidestepped another, and then they both kicked out at the same time and knocked the points of their boots into the other's. Going on the offensive, Manny punched twice but was skilfully dodged, and brought up his leg in a kick that she caught on her knee, following up by grabbing his ankle with her hands. Twisting to the side, she flipped him over onto his front in midair, then brought one leg up and held it there for the smallest of moments before swinging downwards and driving the heel into the back of his head. He lapsed into unconsciousness with a gasp of pain, and slumped forwards as a stream of blood slowly trickled from between two of his fins.

Yasei-Yeiko bent down and took his pulse, before nodding in approval. "Very well done; your training has paid off. Hard enough to knock him out, but not hard enough to crack his skull… force control is one of the most difficult things to master."

"Thank you, sensei." Tsi-Lau muttered, dipping her head in thanks, then hefting Manny's body up onto her shoulders.

"Take him to the execution pen and shackle him to the wall." The anthro instructed. "See if you can rouse him before I arrive, though. I'm off to get the other prisoners…"

Cuffing the human guards around the heads as she left, she barked, "And don't you two ever enter my sight again!"

* * *

Shiala was cradling the egg gently in her arms, standing up with willpower alone, singing softly in Yoshian to the egg and its contents. It was about half the size of its mother, and was very smooth and shiny, particularly on the maroon spots it bore across its surface, and it felt warm to the touch. Marcus was watching her, regretting deeply that he would never see the baby hatch, nor would he get to raise it with the feral he loved so much…

She stopped singing suddenly and looked up to him with large, endearing, yet somewhat saddened eyes. "I'm sorry." She said, sniffling. "I didn't mean to make this happen… I just wanted to give myself to you before I died, before I was lost forever… I just wanted to be truly happy with you for our final night together…"

"It's not your fault." Marcus said, shaking his head. "I should've known it would happen… we're both young, and fertile, and it would almost definitely have been a successful mating at any time. But it doesn't matter anyway, does it?"

"No, probably not." She replied mournfully. "What do you think it is? A male or a female?"

"A male." Marcus said. "I have a hunch…"

She smiled and gently laid the egg down on the straw. "What'll we call him, then?" Marcus asked her, walking up and taking her in his arms.

"Andreas or Leon, you choose."

Marcus gave her a smile and softly replied, "Andreas, to commemorate his feral heritage. Our second child can be Leon." Softly, he rubbed the side of his head against hers in a show of affection, closing his eyes as he did so.

She returned his gesture of love and smiled brightly. "I wonder what he'd have grown up to be?"

"Someone famous, I'm sure. He'll make us proud parents…"

"Or he would, if we weren't going to be killed."

"Hush." Marcus hissed. "Don't interrupt my daydream."

She giggled a little and hugged him tighter, saying, "I don't care if he's rich, or famous, so long as he has a pure heart and cares for the people he knows…"

"Heh, that's our differences clashing there. Feral interests and my interests, but we can work something out, right?"

"I'll take him back to the feral village some time… you and I, we'll take him there, and show my friends how well we've done…"

She trailed off, and Marcus took this as a cue to speak again. "And we'll have lots of stories to tell him, of what mommy and daddy did before he was born, and their friends…"

Looking back over to the egg, she rubbed his back gently and murmured, "It's a strange thing, the future… it's always changing, and you have to be ready for it. You can never live out your dreams the way you planned them, because you need to change those plans constantly…"

Turning back, she gazed deeply into his eyes one final time. "Thank you, Marcus… I… always wanted to be a mother, if only for a few minutes… thank you so much. I love you."

He nodded, sniffling a little. "I love you too, Shiala… it makes me happy to see you happy…"

The two of them heard someone putting the key into the lock on the door, but they remained firmly in each other's grips, dreading what they knew was coming, not wanting to leave each other yet. They remained there for as many moments as they could, before they heard Yasei-Yeiko's voice from behind them. "It's time. Get your stuff together."

"One final time." Marcus muttered to Shiala, before breaking away just enough to kiss her, failing to fight back his tears, feeling them running down his cheeks. He couldn't bring himself to enjoy the final kiss, however, and broke away after a few moments, walking out of the open cell door and being lead at spear point down the corridors, unable to stem the flow of saltwater from his eyes.

_Mother… Father… Alziana… I'll see you soon… and I'll show you how well I did before my death…_

**_To be continued…_**


	51. Chapter Fifty: Darkmark Is Born

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 50 - Darkmark is born**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Marcus and Shiala were led into an outdoor, walled area, where several human soldiers were already waiting for them. They were separated from each other, taken a few feet apart so that shackles could be put around their wrists and ankles, and the Yoshies' was equipment and tossed it to one side. The humans then attached chains to the shackles, and made them stand so that they were facing each other, whilst holding the chains to stop the two Yoshies from escaping. Much to Marcus's dismay, he saw three more humans come out to the courtyard, one of them carrying the egg they had left behind in the cell. Off to his left, Marcus could see a downtrodden-looking Manny, secured by wrist shackles bolted to the wall, guarded by the silver assassin that had attacked him at Visali's apartment. Marcus spitefully thought, _serves him right for betraying us…_

Marcus estimated that there were about eight humans in total, plus Yasei-Yeiko and the other assassin. One of the humans was sent off by the purple anthro Yoshi, and Marcus looked up to the sky in despair, praying silently for a miracle to happen and save him from his fate.

It was a clear day, and the sun beat down on him, reflecting off the sandy ground and making it seem even hotter than it was. He had been stripped to his skin and felt oddly cold despite the heat, trying not to give the head assassin the pleasure of seeing the fear in him. Shiala was opposite him, breathing heavily, looking at Marcus as if to say, _does it have to end this way_?

He blinked as the wind picked up and blew dust about, trying to concentrate on happier thoughts, ones that would become mere memories that he'd be forced to cherish in the afterlife with Shiala, Alziana, and his family. He wondered if his unhatched son would be there with him, perhaps as a baby Yoshi, allowing him to raise him with Shiala… he didn't know much about the afterlife, but sadly resigned himself to the fact that he'd find out soon enough.

_I'm no saviour._ He thought dejectedly to himself.

The human came back with an armful of firewood, followed by another one carrying a large cauldron. Marcus wondered what they were up to, fearing that it was some form of torture they'd be inflicting on-

His eyes flicked over to the maroon-spotted egg, and a lump formed in his throat. _Surely… surely even that cold anthro Yoshi isn't heartless enough…_

Finding it suddenly hard to breathe, he looked wildly around for some sign that it wasn't going to happen, but no matter where he looked, he felt that the chances of that were diminishing; Shiala was chained up and watching with hatred, Manny was barely able to keep his head up to watch, the silver assassin was standing rock-still and observing with an air of disinterest, and Yasei-Yeiko had just picked up the egg… his egg… his son's egg…

Placing it on the edge of the pot, she balanced it long enough for the silver assassin to come over and hold it in place while her superior took a sword from one of the other soldiers, drew back for a swing, and put all her might into the slash. The blade crushed into the side of the eggshell that it hit, and a thick, semi-translucent, yellowy fluid spilled out of the egg, then fell down into the cauldron beneath it. It was streaked with red; blood that must have come from a cut to the baby Yoshi inside the egg, and as she smashed into the shell again, making the hole larger, a solid yellow mass fell out of the hole and splashed into the cauldron of albumen. Within moments, the egg had been emptied and the shell was cast aside, and Yasei-Yeiko laughed maniacally as she dipped the sword into the pot and stirred it.

All at once, Marcus felt raw hatred well up inside of him, and swore viciously at her, but she just laughed a cold, bitter laugh that enraged Marcus further. Lighting a fire beneath the pot with her strange assassin's chi, she took the sword out and smirked menacingly at Marcus as she watched him bare his teeth.

It was nothing compared to Shiala's reaction, however. She shrieked and yelled, filling the air with Yoshian curses and swear words, invoking all of the gods to smite Yasei-Yeiko in retribution, thrashing about in her chains to such an extent that her muscles almost got her free. The anthro Yoshi strode over and slapped her across the face with the back of her hand, but Shiala only shouted louder and with more fury than before.

"Oh, shut up." Yasei-Yeiko snapped, reaching beneath her veils into one of her many pockets. Pulling out a single, spiked glove, she pulled it over the fingers of her right hand and held it close to Shiala's face in a threat, making the feral reluctantly hold her tongue.

Crossing back over to the cauldron, Yasei-Yeiko started to cut into the substance inside of it, hacking out chunks and throwing them to the humans. It brought Marcus a small comfort to see them only take one bite before starting to look a lot sicker, and the purple anthro took the final piece over to Shiala, who had started struggling again.

"This should shut you up." She muttered menacingly before grabbing Shiala's nose with her free hand and pushing the lump of egg into her mouth with the other. The female feral immediately tried to spit it out, but a sadistic Yasei-Yeiko pushed her hand up against Shiala's mouth, keeping her hand over her nostrils. Marcus wondered for a moment if Shiala would rather suffocate than swallow, but a moment later she swallowed heavily and started to cry, subsiding into tears of distress.

This proved to be the final straw for Yasei-Yeiko, who brought the hand with the glove back behind her, allowing Marcus to see what she was going to do just before she did it. With a single swipe, the humanlike Yoshi ripped open Shiala's chest, drove her hand into the cut before her scream had finished, and pulled out Shiala's heart, dropping it to the ground before her. Blood splashed down Shiala's front and onto the ground, and her body began to sag as her consciousness started to make the permanent slip into the oblivion that was death…

_"__SHIAAAAAAALAAAAAAA_!"

Marcus cried in agony, unable to remain silent any longer, with tears running down his face, feeling emotional pain that was far, far worse than that he had felt when Alziana had died, praying silently to be killed now, and not have to see her die… not to have to endure the pain he would feel from seeing that…

He caught her despairing, saddened, pleading gaze for just one moment as she twitched once, twice, thrice, and then went limp and lifeless, sagging to the ground as the humans let go of her chains.

Marcus's heart ripped in half. He lost all emotional control, broke down into tears, wailed and sobbed in pain and sorrow, unable to cope with his new loss. They were laughing at him… laughing at the tears he shed for her… laughing at the feelings overwhelming him… feelings that were quickly changing from sadness to anger… grief turning into a desire to kill… to get revenge… to avenge another death… another life taken without reason… his emotional turmoil was becoming a burning, seething hatred…

It was then, at long last, that Marcus snapped.

Barely able to see clearly, he thrashed about in his restraining chains, consumed by fury, aflame with hate, his only intention to get free and kill the smirking assassin, standing there with Shiala's blood dripping off her glove. Everything in his mind was pushed aside for the desire to kill, the longing to tear someone apart, to finally start paying back the world for what it had done to him… to kill… to destroy…

Just then, Marcus's vision whited out, and he found himself again standing on a cold granite floor, and in front of him was a figure of pure evil incarnate. The Yoshi was a deep, dark red, almost like Shiala's colour, but he also had sharp fangs, claws, and talons, and a menacing glare. He was surrounded by a black aura, and was holding a long staff, which itself had a deep red aura pulsating around it, and had extremely sharp, bloodstained razorblades embedded in the sides, save for a gap in the centre where he was holding it. He had blood splashed across him in a few places, and droplets of it hanging from his fangs, and gave a maniacal laugh as Marcus clenched his fists. The brown Yoshi then leapt forward in a rage, but Klashkna blasted him back with a spell and encased Marcus in a cube of some kind of solidified energy, using a spell in a language that Marcus had never heard before. When Marcus hammered on the sides of the cube, the energy zapped him and he fell to the floor momentarily, but his primal fury took over and he fought back again, uncaring for the pain being dealt to him with each strike on the solid energy.

"So." Klashkna said in a high, yet cruel voice. "You have finally come across the final god, the last god, and by far the most powerful of them all."

Thinking clearly for only a single second, Marcus reached for the orb Eirsir had given him and pulled it out, touching the sides of the cube with it and causing it to shatter before the pieces disintegrated. Marcus then stood up and held it behind his body, preparing to throw it to relieve some of his anger, but Klashkna raised his staff in a defensive manner and said, "Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Listen to me, Marcus…"

It took all of the control that Marcus still had left to restrain his throw and listen. "I know the hate you are feeling. I know the anger you currently bear, fury and frustration, indignation and rage… and I make you an offer, Marcus. I will teach you how to use your powers, and in return, you will follow me and lend your power to me when I so wish…"

"You lie!" Marcus spat. "I have no power!"

"You are wrong, my friend. Within you dwells a deep power added to your bloodline three generations ago… it is merely lying there, growing, waiting for the day it is awakened. That day is today! You see, Marcus, within you resides great potential, the potential to become a master of the long forgotten, almost forbidden art of Psionics. I can teach you the secret to its use, and you will gain power you have never been able to comprehend before, but unless I help you, you will shortly die at the hands of the humans you detest so much. I am powerful enough to truly stop time while you are here, unlike those _weakling_ gods that usurp the title of deity, who can only slow it down or send you into unconsciousness… for I am a true god, one of pure power! When I finally dispose of them, my loyal followers will gain immortality and power just short of what I possess… whereas all those who oppose me shall die! Join me, and you will be one of those who becomes a demi-god, with power beyond mortal comprehension! What do you say?"

Marcus's mind raced. Power beyond his wildest dreams… he could become like he had been in those visions, surging with enough power to destroy the world if he so wished. It was too good to be true! And if he didn't take this offer up, he would surely die. But it was at the price of everything he ever stood for… but what had that gotten him? Nothing he had been able to keep…

Marcus held up the orb and looked Klashkna in the eye, before letting it fall from his grip and smash on the ground. "Oops." He said insincerely. "I guess that means I'll have to accept."

"Good choice." Klashkna sneered, stepping right up to Marcus. "I'll keep my promise. This is what the other gods don't want you to know! The key to psionics is mental force. Raw force, pure power itself, focused by your mind and willpower!"

"Mental force? That's it?"

"Yes! Psionic energy is so chaotic, so forceful, that it needs an even greater force to be used for anything. That's why you've been able to use it before! Your powerful emotions drove you to it. They gave you the strength you needed to use them, but now that you know this, you can take your force from elsewhere. Give me your best shot! Use your anger, your pain, your hatred!"

Once more allowing his hatred to flow over him, Marcus raised his hands and concentrated, feeling the natural flow of an ethereal force through and around him for the first time. He seized that force and drew it towards himself, channelling it into psionic energy at his hands, where it manifested in the form of purple electricity around his fingertips before blasting away from him in a gigantic rush and striking a shield Klashkna had raised.

Instead of awe, or fear, Marcus this time felt sheer power, firing off bolts of the energy in all directions in the otherworldly plane, bringing the energy to him and sending it off again with expert ease. He felt _alive_, felt a powerful urge inside of him to use his new powers, and the more he used them, the better he felt, and the more he wanted to use them again…

"You are one of us." Klashkna intoned slowly, raising his staff. "Do not forget this. You cannot forget this. You are part of the darkness. You are one with the darkness. You are one of us."

A small bolt shot from the tip of the staff and struck Marcus's right arm, burning a bright insignia into it; an upside-down pentagram. Marcus's arm twitched in reflex and he brought up his other hand, using some of the psionic energy to numb the pain with such ease that it was as though he had been able to do it all his life.

"You are one of us." Klashkna repeated. "Now, go forth, and make the lands burn for the cause of darkness! We shall meet again…"

When Manny saw Shiala die, he felt a terrible pain in his heart, but it intensified when he saw Marcus go psychotic, thrashing about in his chains like an enraged animal. A moment later, there was a bright flash of light, and Manny couldn't believe what he saw happen right before his very eyes…

Marcus's muscles all across his body suddenly bulged, and he pulled himself free from the humans around him, stripping skin from their hands as he whipped the chains away. He swung them around his head like lightweight ropes, his muscles effortlessly controlling them as he lashed out and struck the humans with the heavy iron, smashing their heads with sudden bursts of crimson blood from the impact point. At once, Yasei-Yeiko leapt backwards and took a fighting stance, but Marcus turned around and broke the chains merely by pulling on them, shattering the lock pins around his wrists. He threw the chains at the two assassins, but they both vanished in clouds of smoke and reappeared on the top of the courtyard wall.

They backflipped off of the wall and disappeared from view, enraging Marcus even more. He started throwing bolts of energy at the remaining humans, knocking them down, enjoying himself as he repeatedly hit them with the bolts of energy, taking sadistic pleasure from their cries of pain and the smell of scorched flesh. A few of them stopped trying to get back up, and it was then that Manny saw Marcus start doing something different; at the point of his fingertips, every time he cast an enchantment, a red, inverted pentagram of light would appear for a fraction of a second before the energy around his hands changed form and became something else. Marcus threw fireballs, lightning bolts, blasts of hail, and countless other supernatural things before the last human finally stopped moving.

Slowly, he turned towards Manny with the purple energy pulsating about his hands, jumping to and from points on them, crackling and buzzing as he strode forward calmly. "Now, it's your turn to die, traitor…" he muttered darkly in a voice much deeper than usual.

"What?" Manny asked, shocked at the accusation.

"You betrayed Marcus. You fell for that assassin and Shiala paid the ultimate price. She meant more to Marcus that _you_ ever did." Marcus spat, worrying Manny from the way he was talking in the third person. "You will pay for this with your life."

"She's lied to you! I didn't know she was a fake!" Manny pleaded, ever more fearful as Marcus grew closer. "She told me she was going to warn you! I didn't know she'd betray me!"

Marcus came to a stop and remained silent, staring Manny in the eyes. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes!" Manny forced out. "I swear on my life and honour!"

A few more seconds passed, and Marcus could see in Manny's eyes that he wasn't lying. With a furious roar, he spun about on his heels and manifested the energy around his hands into an energy ball, before throwing it backwards at the prison and watching with sadistic joy as it exploded and brought a goodly portion of the structure in upon itself, sending up a cloud of dust.

"By the gods…" Manny whispered to himself. "Marcus, how-…"

"I am not Marcus. That name does not belong to me. Marcus died here with his beloved girlfriend. Now I am more than that… I am a weapon of the darkness, a master of destruction in my own right. I _am_ the darkness. And I shall bring the world to its knees. My name… is Darkmark."

"But…"

"Come, now." Darkmark instructed, blasting Manny's shackles off and showering the blue Yoshi with bits of brick dust. "It is best that we leave the city. But I will return one day, to deliver justice to the murderer of Shiala… that is an act that cannot go unpunished. For now, I have bigger fish to fry… we can come back for the minnows later."

Darkmark collected his discarded gear, then pushed over a section of the brick wall with his hands alone. Striding out into the street with his cloak billowing out behind him, he and Manny headed out of the city, the last remnants of the six who had entered it but a few days earlier…

**_To be continued…_**


	52. Chapter Fifty One: Eye Of The Storm

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 51 - Eye of the storm**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Quickedit is being difficult. You'll have to make do with dashes instead of horizontal lines._

Something that had not happened in a hundred years was happening again, as the lands faced a crisis they knew nothing about. Though it became rare for the Octotheist deities to meet each other once their powers had been lost, they had now been summoned together and were meeting, such as it could be called in a place where time did not truly flow and nothing truly existed.

"All is lost." Miyala stated sadly to the other six. "The sixth saviour has fallen to the forces of darkness. He is but a pawn in their plans. We are doomed."

"Is there nothing we can do?" Vizorvy asked.

Miyala shook her head. "Nothing. All there is left for us is to watch and wait, to see what happens, and hope for a miracle."

"Without Marcus, Sévar will never return." Tivaro said thoughtfully. "It is unlikely, now, that he will mate with anyone, and his only child has been killed… surely, the prophecy will not come to pass."

"That is the way that it looks." Miyala said in despair.

"There is, of course, one other possibility…" Eirsir spoke. The others turned to him as he talked. "He may well carry out the prophecy himself, and there will be no need for the seventh saviour. If Klashkna gives him enough power, he may eradicate the humans and Koopas by himself…"

"But what good will it do us," Sorsoy interrupted, "If Klashkna has the Yoshies under his rule?"

Silence fell for a moment, until Karshina spoke up, "If he were to lead Marcus to the south… to the ruins…"

"Then all _would _be lost." Miyala answered.

"Maybe we still have a chance if he tries to get a silver sword blessed like he was told… maybe we can take him back." Laryshka suggested.

"That is all we can hope for." Eirsir stated with an air of finality, before vanishing with a flash of light. The others followed suit, leaving nothing behind in the plane of non-existence to show that they had ever been there.

----------------------------

Manny wasn't sure what to do, or what to expect. Everything had changed so quickly, and he had been caught up in it like a piece of flotsam on a tidal wave, unable to go anywhere other than where he was being taken. Marcus… no, Darkmark now, had changed so much from his childhood friend, but could he really blame him? He had, after all, been forced to watch his own unhatched child be killed and eaten in front of him, and then suffered the loss of _another_ true love. It was too much for one person to bear without snapping, and snap he had. Already, Manny had witnessed more destruction at the hands of his friend, once when Darkmark raided a shop in the city for supplies and once more when the gate guards attempted to stop them leaving the city. It had been so easy for Darkmark to kill them that Manny was beginning to feel true fear like he had never felt it before…

Darkmark was marching onwards, his even more powerful legs carrying him far with each stride, not saying a word to his friend. He seemed to be almost another person to Manny, but he still looked like Marcus for the most part, and Manny couldn't bear to leave his friend when he had nothing else left. Where would he go, anyway? And so, on they went…

They were passing into another forest now, keeping to the shade under the canopy as their cloaks billowed out behind them from the fast pace they were travelling at. Already, the city of Corvan was far behind them, and as the sun began to set it grew ever more further away, fading into the distance just like the memories of the horrid events that had taken place there, and all the deaths that had occurred…

"It's just you and me again…" Manny observed, turning to look at Darkmark. "Just like when we started out, just like the old times."

Darkmark did not reply, but Manny detected a flicker of something in his eyes; something faint being suppressed. Sadness, nostalgia, longing, regret… Manny would never know, but it meant that Marcus was still in there somewhere, perhaps, hidden behind this new persona borne of hate and suffering, pain and loss.

As they continued, Manny cast his mind back again to the courtyard where it had all changed, where everything had gone wrong. Marcus one moment, Darkmark the next… killing so freely, almost seeming to take a kind of perverse pleasure from the deaths and pain he caused. Well… maybe not _caused_, but _returned_. It would take a long time for Manny to get over the way his friend had become a callous killer… something that Marcus had once accused the blue Yoshi of being. And with those powers… psionics, Darkmark had called them… he had destroyed with his will alone, not using words like magic users did, but instead utilising his own inner power… his mind, his mental strength.

Was he still the sixth saviour? Was this meant to happen? It was quite likely that these powers were meant to be used in his struggle, but it seemed like… like his friend… had turned _evil_.

_"I am not Marcus. That name does not belong to me. Marcus died here with his beloved girlfriend. Now I am more than that… I am a weapon of the darkness, a master of destruction in my own right. I am the darkness. And I shall bring the world to its knees."_

Had his friend lost his soul? Would he be doomed when he died to suffer in the blazing pit of torture that was the Underworld? Manny hadn't seen the Octagram, but highly suspected that all of the gemstones were now there, and that maybe the red one would be shining brighter than the others…

Where were they going? To continue in their quest for vengeance? It didn't make sense, unless there was something deeper that Manny didn't know of that made Darkmark still want to kill Foryo. He had guessed while Shiala was alive that Marcus was hiding things from him, and he expected it to continue, even moreso now that the soul of his friend had gone…

He found his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and he started to sweat. If his friend was indeed evil, perhaps it would fall upon him to end Darkmark's life by the edge of his blade and terminate the supposed legend of the next saviour. Would he have to continue it himself? He doubted it, unless he gained some kind of immense power…

--------------------------

"Master."

"Yasei-Yeiko, how has it gone? Did you carry out your orders?"

"Unfortunately, I did not to full extent…"

An unnerving silence fell, and the assassin started to make excuses. "Almost, my lord. And he may well be considered removed… he went crazy, I believe. He seems to have gone insane. I doubt he is a threat any more."

Foryo was irritated, but silently agreed with what she was saying. Perhaps it was best this way; his master had ordered him not to kill the brown Yoshi in the end, and the wizard had decided to take matters into his own hands anyway. Perhaps his sudden controlling urge would be covered up in the end. Besides, how much harm could a single Yoshi do to him, a powerful wizard well professed in magic?

----------------------

Yasei-Yeiko broke out of the trance and breathed deeply for a few seconds before a knock on the door interrupted her post-mental-projection recuperation.

"Come in." She commanded.

Tsi-Lau opened the door and poked her head around it. "You called for me?"

"Yes, sit down." The head assassin murmured, gesturing to a chair close to the large cushion she was sitting on. "I need to talk to you about a few things…"

Tsi-Lau obeyed silently, sitting down and keeping her gaze fixed upon her sensei. "Firstly," the anthro began, "you have recently been proving yourself to be very useful to both me and the guild here in Corvan… I feel that promotion to the eighth level is due soon for you."

The silver assassin nodded and quietly replied, "Thank you, sensei."

"Secondly, we have a bit of a problem concerning that 'Marcus'… according to the city watch, he broke out of the city after raiding a shop and stealing several supplies. The few surviving eyewitnesses reported that he was using some supernatural power that wasn't magic, but it doesn't seem to be Chi either. I believe he is heading for my master's castle, near Sansata city, but there is little that I can do. I am committed to stay here."

After waiting a moment or two to confirm that Yasei-Yeiko was done, Tsi-Lau nodded slowly and asked, "Are you going to leave him, or…?"

"I would like to send someone after him, but there are almost no candidates… many of my better men and women are currently engaged, and other potentials are not skilled enough… but you, you are a different matter."

"Me, sensei?" Tsi-Lau said, feigning surprise.

"Yes, you. You learn very quickly, and I would like to train you myself with the full extent of my knowledge… you have proven both your loyalty and your skills many times in the short while that I have known you."

"Thank you, sensei."

"One other thing I wish to ask… watching your fighting style, many questions enter my head. The most prominent one I wish to ask is this: why do you fight?"

"I fight but for the guild, sensei."

"Stop that… I want the truth, not a tail-kissing answer. Is there someone you fight for, or a belief you have?"

Tsi-Lau bit her lip, momentarily allowing the solidity of her appearance to fail. "I have a rather unkind and mostly unhappy past… there are many who I lost who I fight for, and many reasons I have to commit myself fully to the only profession I know."

"I see…" Yasei-Yeiko muttered in thought, before waving her hand in Tsi-Lau's general direction. "You are dismissed… take today off to rest and prepare yourself. Tomorrow morning, you are to leave immediately in pursuit of Marcus, and you have my permission to kill him if need be. I assure you, he will be no match for your skills…"

"You flatter me, sensei." Tsi-Lau said quietly.

"Oh, and…" the anthro murmured, "Congratulations on your promotion."

She held her hands out for Tsi-Lau's swords, and the silver assassin handed one of them to her. Yasei-Yeiko took a small pen out and made a mark on the scabbards next to the existing one, signifying Tsi-Lau's new authority.

"Don't fail us." She commanded, handing back the sword.

"If I fail, it will be in death." Tsi-Lau replied, before making an exit.

**_To be continued…_**


	53. Chapter Fifty Two: Feathers In The Wind

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 52 -Feathers in the wind**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Manny was almost shaking in his boots. It had become quite clear to him over the course of the day that what he had seen was only the beginning of Darkmark's new powers, and the prospect of watching greater destruction take place did not fill him with enthusiasm. Having watched Darkmark coldly and cruelly dispatch a small band of bandits hiding in the trees, ripping open wounds from a distance with his powers, killing without so much as a flicker of remorse or a twitch of guilt, Manny felt sure that he was out of place, walking with such a brutal murderer.

He didn't want to let his guard down by sleeping, but he was tired and the prospect of escaping to a dream world was enticing. Both he and Darkmark were crouched around a fire that the latter had lit, gathering a few branches together before starting a small fire with a tap of his finger on the wood. The light clearly defined something Manny had not seen earlier; burned into Darkmark's left arm was a pentagram, much like the ones that appeared around Darkmark's hands whenever he used his psionic powers.

Desperate to break the silence, he gestured towards it and queried, "What's that?" in a voice that betrayed his inner feelings somewhat. Darkmark looked at it for a moment before turning back to Manny and replying, "It's just a mark… branded on my skin by the Lord of Darkness…"

Manny's hand immediately went to his sword hilt. "You have turned evil!"

Darkmark chuckled. "No, not evil… you have not seen evil yet. I still have good intentions, such as the elimination of that vampire human… but I merely look up to Klashkna now, as my guide and master."

Sweating, Manny slowly drew his sword from its sheath. "You still follow the darkness. You're not Marcus any more! You're not my friend! You're just a manifestation of evil!"

"Do you intend to fight me?" Darkmark asked, glancing casually down to Manny's shortsword. "How valiant of you, but it will get you nowhere except for the underworld…"

He drew the octagram from his saddlebags, holding it out in front of him. The gold was glowing slightly now that all the gems were in place, and the image of the fire flickered and danced in all of the cut gemstones. "I am a saviour, and I have a duty to do. Any who stand in my way shall be eliminated, as you have seen before. If you want to stop me, you are not only betraying your religion, but the entire Yoshian race. Does that sound appealing to you? Do you think you'll still get into the afterlife?"

Manny swallowed heavily, but did not put away his weapon. Instead, he lay down on his side and rested his sword beside him, keeping his hand on the handle. He remained there, watching Darkmark intently, until he slipped away and fell asleep.

* * *

Sira sighed and ran her hand over the inscription once more, wishing that the plaque didn't have to bear the name that it did.

_Visali Lestan, died 3rd of Eira, CD 2156._

He had looked so sad when she had buried him, with his back broken and blood around his mouth. She had felt terrible emotional pain as she had filled the grave back up, in front of all the others gathered for his funeral, and though she had wanted to stop, she knew it was part of tradition in a Yoshian funeral for the closest person to the deceased to bury them…

She didn't know who had buried Dave, as she had been to distressed to attend his funeral, and now she had her hands full with the little baby orphan, too. Tamaroro, she knew, was not her responsibility, but he had grown attached to her and had looked to her for comfort after witnessing and recalling what had happened to the others.

_That assassin will pay, I shall make sure of it… some day…_

She shook her head and stood back up, muttering a prayer under her breath. She had been allowed time off of her course to grieve, but she wanted to go back to take her minds off of all that she had lost. She was on her own, now, living with her flatmate a few streets away from Visali's old place, already up for grabs to anyone who wanted it.

She walked back over to her flatmate, a yellow Yoshi by the name of Samintha, and took Tamaroro back from her, cradling the little infant in her arms. He distracted her from her pains, and made her smile with his affections, and she didn't want to part with him despite many offers of a place for him to live. They began to walk away from the graveyard behind the church, thanking the dark grey Yoshian clergyman for letting them see the grave.

Attempting to strike up a conversation, Samintha asked, "Did you hear about the incident in the city centre yesterday?"

Sira shook her head. "No, I didn't…"

"They say that someone managed to single-handedly destroy an entire prison! Then, the same person raided a store and stole a bunch of stuff, killing loads of people, and took out one of the foot exits at the northern gate!"

"Really?" Sira asked with mild interest. Normally, she would care, but she didn't have the strength just now.

Samintha nodded. "There were a few survivors… Yoshies, mostly, with just a few minor injuries. No humans lived… they say that it was a brown Yoshi, travelling with a blue one. He must've been powerful… the whole prison was demolished, and they found a whole slew of bodies in the courtyard, mostly human, but there was a feral Yoshi there too, a red one!"

"Wait a moment… a red feral? Shiala…"

Sira dipped her head a little as she kept walking. _Why… why am I being plagued by death? It's not fair, I never did anything wrong…

* * *

_

It wasn't very hard for Tsi-Lau to find out where Marcus had gone; such was the destruction by the northern end of town that sections of buildings were still being cleared away and bodies were still laid bare for identification, almost all human. Just a little bit beyond that, a section of the city wall had been blasted out, leaving a large gap that was slowly being repaired as quickly as possible.

Although none of these things dented Tsi-Lau's determination in any way, she sensed that she would have to rely on her most advanced assassin training, a little of which she had received personally from her sensei before she left. She had a sense of foreboding about this, but ignored it and pressed on, taking the path that avoided the dense forest under the reasoning that Marcus would want to take the straightest and most open road to the next city along; Sansata city.

* * *

"We should reach Sansata by tomorrow morning." Darkmark told Manny in a low voice as they set out again, while dawn broke overhead. "Once there, we will have to look around for enough silver to forge a sword out of. Preferably without a fight that will attract attention before it is wanted, but if it has to be done…"

Manny remained silent. He dearly wanted to run in the opposite direction and head back for Corvan, but the assassins were probably on full alert looking for him and Darkmark. Even if he did manage to track down Sira and Tamaroro, he wasn't sure what he would do next, and was worried what Darkmark might do if left to his own devices, or what he might do to Manny if he tried to abandon him.

Darkmark was being quiet, too, but for a different reason; after falling asleep, he was greeted with a vision from Klashkna similar to the ones he had had with the other deities…

_"My servant…" Klashkna hissed._

_Darkmark felt the words come to his mouth without any conscious thought towards them. "My master."_

_"I see you are continuing on your previous path towards Sansata city; are you intent on slaying that vampire human?"_

_"Yes, master. I have a personal bone to pick with him… unless you wish me to take a different path…"_

_"No, please, continue. He has started to undermine my authority… I told him not to send that anthro assassin after you, but still he did. He needs to learn what happens to those who disobey me."_

_"He is one of yours?" Darkmark asked, slightly angry._

_"Yes, but not for much longer. He will make a fine first target for you to practice your psionics on. After that, I have something for you, but first you must finish this test to prove_ _your worth…"_

_"As you wish, master."_

Darkmark clenched his fists as he walked, taking long strides forward. This did not go unnoticed by Manny, who took some relief from the fact that, though he denied it, Darkmark still had memories of what had happened to him as Marcus.

_Perhaps, some day, I can bring back my old friend…_

**_To be continued…_**


	54. Chapter Fifty Three: Chaos

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 53 - Chaos**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Manny's head was spinning. Blood was splashed across his hands, running down his chest, and smeared along his arms… he felt dizzy and disoriented, barely able to keep hold of his consciousness as he ran, struggling with his burden and finding it difficult to keep his eyes focused…

It had all started when he and Darkmark had set out again that morning, intent on reaching Sansata as quickly as they could. His mind still swarming with doubts and questions, impulses he had to suppress, Manny had tagged along as uncertainly as before, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade the entire time. When they had been ambushed once again by bandits just as they left the forest, Manny had seen such horrors that his mind had firmly been made up. Not enough of the three humans would be left to so much as identify them, and the forest would swallow up their remains like the sea swallows up a shipwreck. Soon after, Manny had drawn his sword and made an attempt on Darkmark's life… to put an end to the supposed sixth saviour, to terminate a horrid being of evil, to remove a servant of Klashkna from the mortal world… but it had gone so horridly wrong.

As though he expected it coming, Darkmark had whipped out his flail and deftly dodged the slash of the sword aimed at the back of his neck. Rolling out of the way, he had sprung to his feet and attacked, striking steel as a valiant and furious Manny leapt forward too, hoping to keep Darkmark occupied enough to prevent his own gruesome end. Thrusting, parrying, countering, Manny had employed all of the skills he knew to try and maintain the upper hand, all the while dodging the swipe of Darkmark's flail and fully aware of the buzz of psionic energy around the brown Yoshi's hands, sufficient power to rend the flesh from his bones…

Manny tired eventually, amazed at the psionic-enhanced stamina of Darkmark, and took a hard flail swipe to his chest, gashing open a large wound in his chest. Following up on the strike, Darkmark swung many times for Manny and opened several more cuts, before kicking out hard enough to knock Manny off his feet and backwards by a foot or two. As Manny sat up, he saw the psionic energy flux and charge around Darkmark's hands, and in desperation, grabbed his sword, remembering at this crucial point the basis of magic… that it required any long, solid object to focus the energy, and that he had seen Karin do it before. Calling out the only useful words that came to mind, he shouted the incantation as loudly as he could.

"_Olasta Physica_!"

It was as though everything had gone into slow motion. A shimmering half-shield took form around him, drawing from an ethereal force to focus its energy into the barrier. At the same time, Darkmark threw a bolt of psionic energy, and it hit the shield with considerable force, knocking Manny onto his back. The energy rebounded off the shield, now a bright green instead of purple, and struck Darkmark squarely on the chest, apparently a raw blast of magic.

What happened next was something that Manny never forgot. The psionic energy about Darkmark's hands leapt away from his body and hovered in midair as purple balls of light, before fading to green, then suddenly flying back towards the stunned Darkmark. They struck his body with a bright flash of light, and he gave a terrible, agonised cry of pain before falling silent and collapsing to the floor with blood oozing out of his mouth at a considerable rate. Getting slowly to his feet, Manny took Darkmark's pulse, and found he was barely clinging on to his life… but Manny's next decision changed the fate of the world forever.

Instead of taking his sword and putting an end to Darkmark, Manny saw his old friend in the tears, the pain, and the hot, red blood running out from Darkmark's mouth. His partially open, red-outlined eyes so clearly showed the pain he had felt that Manny didn't want to cause even more, to hurt someone who needed help…

He couldn't bring himself to kill Darkmark, still believing him to be Marcus at heart, and rolled him over onto his back, before picking him up and sprinting onwards, intent only on finding a medic for both him and the Yoshi that could only be his friend…

* * *

"Uh… ugh… w-where am I…"

Darkmark slowly raised himself up from the cold, stone floor. How was it that Manny had beaten him? He had used magic… not hard to learn, but still, how could a complete novice have defeated someone as adept at psionics as him? And that particular spell was not supposed to guard against the ethereal, only the physical…

He suspected, though, that it was not Manny who was to blame, but the magic itself. It had interfered with his psionic energy, changing it to magic with devastating consequences. He knew he was not dead, for he was neither in the afterlife nor the underworld, but once more in the strange plane of existence where the gods resided…

Unlike his previous visits, the strange plane was completely illuminated this time. He was standing on a small section of stone about twelve feet in each direction, and beyond that was a void…

It was something that Darkmark was not prepared for. Chaos itself, manifested into the most bizarre, surreal shapes and forms, colours and intensities, was twisting, breaking, exploding, reforming, and swirling into the distance no matter where he looked. It went by so fast that he could not pick out any details, but the mere sight of it chilled him to the bone and made him feel infinitesimally small…

"That is what there was before the Universe was created." A voice said, coming from all around him. "Nothing but Chaos, a force almost as great as the gods themselves, if not greater. What there is beyond Chaos is not known, but it is where I came from with my sword, though I remember nothing of it…"

In a flash of light, all eight of the Octotheist Deities appeared and surrounded him in a circle, trapping him between them, not that he had anywhere to run. Eirsir continued, "This panel you are standing on… do you think it really exists? It is but an illusion we used to help your mind to cope…"

The stone disappeared, and Darkmark felt himself floating. The feeling of floating combined with the awesome vision of chaos began to positively frighten him, and his mind began to almost shout in protest at what it was seeing, something that could not possibly be true…

Eirsir's voice was cold, unlike the amiable tone he had used previously. "Do you prefer this to the world you inhabit? Is this better than reality? Are no true dimensions better than four? If Klashkna has his way, this is what all will be reduced to!"

Darkmark could not answer, such was the fear and panic that flowed through him. Turning around, he could see the other six deities watching him, as well as Klashkna, though he appeared to be behind a barrier of some kind that stifled any sound he was making.

"We know you have suffered greatly, and we know that you wish to pay back the humans for what they have done." Sorsoy called out. "But to take the path of evil is to take the path of destruction! If you yourself are not completely destroyed, then the universe and all its contents will be, reduced back to the chaos from whence they came!"

"It is not too late to turn back and change your ways, to become the next saviour and fulfil your destiny…" Came the voice of Karshina.

"If you wish to see the humans destroyed, you must fulfil the prophecy and allow Sévar to return by producing offspring to carry on your bloodline. Without Sévar, nothing you achieve will be enough to wipe out the humans!" Vizorvy said, his voice ringing through Darkmark's head.

"Stop! Enough!" Darkmark shouted, holding his hands to his head just as Tivaro began to speak. His deep voice was beginning to fade back into the higher-pitched voice of Marcus as he cried, "I cannot take this anymore, I cannot! I never wanted to be the saviour, I never wanted to fulfil any destiny or prophecy. All I wanted was to be happy, to live a life without pain and suffering! And pain and suffering was all that I got! I wanted my revenge, I wanted to pay back what those humans did to me, to my family, to my friends, to everyone I ever cared for…"

"And it is _he_ who is to blame!" Laryshka called out, pointing to Klashkna. "You are but his pawn! Do you see? He has won; he caused you such pain that you went to his side in an attempt to gain power. But if it wasn't for him, you would never have felt that pain! By taking sides with evil, you are submitting yourself to the one who has caused you all your hurt!"

"Stop!" Darkmark shouted again, taking a small knife from his saddlebags and placing it against his throat. "I have had enough. It is not worth living to be a saviour or not, to live with the pain I have suffered. To continue to live bearing the burden of all that I have seen and felt is too much…"

With that, Darkmark dragged the knife across his throat, but Darkmark felt no pain or any blood coming from the wound. "You cannot die if you do not exist…" Tivaro murmured. "But if that is what you wish to do, let us show you what it will be like…"

They disappeared again, leaving Darkmark alone in the void of chaos. A terrifying noise began to fill the void, the sound of chaos, a strange, sanity-breaking cacophony that made Darkmark's body twitch and shudder. He felt himself begin to fall, faster and faster, flying through the void with no end in sight, the powerful discord making his head pound, slowly losing all conscious thought…

* * *

Just as Manny reached the city and found himself inside of it, he felt his strength weakening, fading away like a flash of light. Desperate, he headed for the first large building he saw – a Yoshian church – with all of his remaining, fast-disappearing energy.

Before he could get there, though, Darkmark suddenly coughed and vomited blood, before going limp again in Manny's arms. The blue Yoshi felt a greater sense of urgency, but could not run any faster through the mostly empty streets, his own injuries sapping at his stamina…

Ramming his back into the doors of the church, the flung them open with his last ounce of strength, before collapsing onto the floor and feeling Darkmark slip from his clutches. He heard many footsteps approaching, and looked with blurred vision to see Yoshies running toward them, some of them wearing the black scarves of the clergy, a comforting sight that made Manny relax before he lapsed into unconsciousness…

**_To be continued…_**


	55. Chapter Fifty Four: Exorcism

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 54 -Exorcism**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: My apologies for the extreme lateness! First I was on holiday over christmas, then I was struck down with writer's block on the following sunday. I will write to make up the missed chapters, and they will be uploaded as soon as they are written and edited._

When Manny regained consciousness, he found five different Yoshies standing around him with looks of concern on their faces, three of them wearing the white-stitched black scarves of the Yoshian clergy, one of which was taking his pulse. The remaining four had been whispering to each other, but stopped once his eyes fluttered open and he began to sit up as best he could with his tail in front of him.

He had been laid out on several chairs pushed together, and his wounds had been magically healed leaving only light scars. His sword was back in its sheath, the blood had been wiped off of his skin, and he felt oddly clean, as though he had been washed. Looking over to his right, he saw Darkmark laid out on the altar, but heavy iron chains had also been wrapped around him, firmly pinning his arms and legs down onto the stone. He was breathing, but struggling, and the single Yoshi next to him was regarding his body with a look of utter disrespect and revulsion.

"Why is he chained up?" Manny asked, gesturing to Darkmark.

"He is a minion of the darkness… we found their emblem branded upon his arm." One of the clergymen answered. "It would be against our teachings not to help him, but we still do not trust him unrestrained."

"Also…" said another, "They will be needed if you will allow us to exorcise him. The spirit of the Lord of Darkness will not leave the body without a fight."

Manny got to his feet and crossed over to Darkmark's body. "Exorcise him? Will it hurt him?"

"It will, but it is better in the long run. We are curious as to why we found the mark of a convert lower down on his arm, just beneath the mark of darkness…"

The blue Yoshi turned around and told them, "He has endured much pain and suffering, much more than any sane person could normally take… but unfortunately, so short a time after he converted from atheism, it became too much for him and he snapped… the Lord of Darkness, it seems, branded the mark upon him himself, for he talks of the God of Death with respect…"

The three Yoshian ministers nodded their heads slowly. "He can possess minds with little effort, and often without the victim knowing of this… it is best that we exorcise him, and separate the Lord of Darkness from this one's body."

The other two Yoshies, apparently just citizens of the city, stepped back as the three ministers checked Darkmark's chains, adjusted the gag over his mouth, and then spread out around the altar. It was made of stone and had a large, overhanging top, and lying beside it in a velvet-lined box was a copy of the Fayen, apparently a very old one judging by the hand-carved symbols on the front and the hard, leather-bound cover upon it, showing signs of age despite apparent good treatment.

As Manny looked around more during the short period of silence, it struck him that the church must have been very old, perhaps one of the first ones ever to be built out of concrete. The styles of the stained-glass windows depicting the eight Gods revealed much, particularly that there was an actual picture for Klashkna's window, instead of a blank one like many of the newer churches did. There were the statues of all eight gods as well, and even the many rows of benches appeared to be very old and well cared for. Torch brackets and candle stands provided little light compared to the mid-day sun streaming through the stained glass, and there were even tapestries hung upon the walls, something absent from the newer churches where they had paintings instead.

The three priests, one white, one purple, and one green, each placed a hand upon Darkmark's struggling form and used the other to pick up long, lit candles, which they held high above their heads. Chanting slowly in Old Yoshi, they kept their eyes fixed upon Darkmark the whole time, who stopped struggling in an attempt to listen to what they were saying.

After a minute or two, they started to lower the candles, with only one of them speaking at a time.

"_Lhásorr kso kharsatón_." The green one intoned.

"_Vhásin kso shísayéra_." Chanted the white Yoshi.

"_Khágháca vha básamúr jhór kso tsánoliéra_." The purple one said, with an air of finality. As soon as he finished speaking, all three of them turned the candles on their sides and lowered them until the flames came into contact with Darkmark's skin…

The result was an incredible sight that took Manny by surprise. Almost immediately, all the light in the church from outside vanished, as though the sun had been extinguished. The three clergymen stepped back immediately, watching intently as Darkmark began to write, crying out into his gag, while a light, reddish aura began to take form around him. The aura suddenly separated from his body in a flash of light, and became a semitransparent image of Klashkna, hovering in midair and screeching.

"You may have removed my possession…" he shrieked, his voice echoing off the walls, "But he is already evil, and already believes he has the power to shape the future! Just because I am gone…" the image flickered for a moment, then continued, "…does not mean that he has become good! That mark shall forever remain on his arm… and he will never forget… who he truly is…"

Darkmark's body suddenly convulsed violently, and the chains holding him down snapped and shattered, scattering fragments across the area around the altar. He flipped up onto his feet, and Klashkna laughed as he faded out and the light returned to the church interior, a sound that chilled Manny to the bone.

Then, Darkmark's eyes opened, and he looked around in astonishment. He took a step back and onto the overhanging part of the altar, which did not appear to be supported, and the entire stone slab tipped over, throwing him off and onto his back on the floor. It remained at an angle, propped up against the rest of the altar, and as Darkmark got back to his feet Manny quickly ran forwards to look inside of what appeared to be a hollow part of the altar.

However, Darkmark lunged forwards and barred his path, bringing Manny to a dead stop. "What has happened?" He demanded. "I feel different… what have you done to me?"

"I did nothing… but the Octotheist priests here helped you… they removed you from the Lord of Darkness's possession…"

Manny held his hands over his face, expecting some kind of retribution, but instead Darkmark gave a snort followed by a low chuckle. "Well… I suppose I have to thank you for that… I have learned the part he has had in all of this, all of the pain we suffered, and I will get him… some day."

He stepped to one side and turned around, looking with Manny to see what was inside of the altar, and they both found a long, glass-plated box, the edges of which were held together by plates of gold. It took the two of them to lift it, even with Darkmark's psionics bulging their arm muscles, and they dropped it down on the floor next to the altar.

"Nobody has ever been able to open that." The green priest said to them. "We've kept it hidden there from the humans who constantly harass us, but none of the honest Yoshies who come here have ever been able to break the glass or open it otherwise…"

Despite being plated with glass, nothing could be seen inside of it, as though there was a foil of silver on the other side of the glass. Manny spotted a small plate with Yoshian words carved into it, and began to read it off, following the carefully carved symbols with his finger.

"_The Sacred Silver Sword of Karlo-Shin, the Third Saviour of the Octotheist religion, preserved until the might of another of his kind may break the seal_…"

He looked up to Darkmark cautiously. "A silver sword… we should try to get it out of this case, so that we may use it against that vampire…"

Darkmark remained silent. He seemed to have already changed a little from being liberated from possession, but he had definitely not gone back to being Marcus, and it seemed nothing would ever do that to him. Manny pried at the gold plating around the case, but there was a spark of purple energy and Manny quickly took his hands away, blowing on them as he stood back up.

Still maintaining silence, Darkmark bent over the case and also attempted to pry the plating loose, with similar results. However, the spark of energy seemed to sink right into his fingers, and he felt the tiniest charge of psionic energy within him, giving him pause for thought as he let it discharge back into the air around him. Looking over his shoulder, Manny and the three scarf-wearing Yoshies were watching him with interest, an expression of kindness and concern plain upon the faces of the three clergymen.

Darkmark turned away quickly as a smile crept to his lips, hiding the show of emotion from them. _They know I am evil… and yet, they care not about it. All they care about is that I am one of them, a Yoshi, and they wish no harm to come to me, no matter my beliefs or ethics… I must admire them for that. No human would have such an attitude…_

He bent down again, this time over the copy of the Fayen next to the altar, and opened it, being careful with the ancient pages and gingerly turning them as he scanned the symbols of the Yoshian alphabet for what he wanted… coming, at last, to the retelling of the legend of Karlo-Shin.

It spanned for many, many pages, detailing his life and his struggles; that he was an assassin born to feral parents three years after Vizorvy departed from the mortal realm, receiving his training in the city after his village was attacked and only a handful of the ferals survived the massacre. He first learned of his destiny upon achieving the highest assassin rank, tenth level, and soon thereafter he left on a journey deep into the Koopa lands armed only with his silver sword -forged by his own hand- and his mastery of psionics.

After many more pages, many of them written by Karlo-Shin himself, Darkmark learned that he had managed to sneak into the palace of the Koopa king and assassinate him, twice closely escaping from the Magikoopa guards that searched for him tirelessly, and returned to his guild with proof of his accomplishments.

Unlike the other saviours, he was not an immediate hero, but he recorded his story, which soon spread throughout the Octotheists and became a popular legend. One day, Karlo-Shin sealed his silver sword at the church in the same city as his guild, and vanished, never to return. The Yoshies said that he had gone back, seeking adventure, but had encountered a force too strong for him, having left his sword behind, but regardless, he was officially announced as the third saviour and his story recorded forever more in the Fayen…

Darkmark carefully closed the copy of the Fayen; it was such an old copy that it had absolutely no omissions, including all of the stories, beliefs and rituals associated with Klashkna. Some slightly newer pages at the very back had been expertly added, detailing the legend of Sévar, but it was still obvious to Darkmark that they had not been present when the copy was first produced.

Going back to the case, Darkmark took the Octagram from his saddlebags, producing gasps and low whispers from the three churchmen. He placed it gently on top of the case, then placed both of his hands upon it, and allowed the ether to flow through him, taking some of it and turning it into psionic energy, which slowly spread from his fingertips, across the surface of the glass…

With an ear-splitting, echoing sound, all the panes of glass blew outwards as though the case had been hit with an explosion, shredding the palms of Darkmark's hands and cutting his arms deeply. Lying inside the case was a four-foot silver broadsword, with the symbol of the Octotheist religion engraved into the end, and an ornate hilt and handle at the other end. Ignoring the blood and pain, Darkmark closed his hands around the handle and picked up the sword, noting it to be remarkably lightweight in his hands, and finding that even the lights of the candles shone brightly from the polished silver surface of the blade. Beneath it was a scabbard made out of a hard substance Darkmark could not identify, but he picked it up as well as the octagram, and rose to his feet slowly.

Then, in a blur of movement, he whirled around and thrust the sword downwards, jamming it through the stone platform upon which he was stood, without damage to the sword or any large cracks in the stone. Dropping the scabbard, he held the octagram aloft with the white jewel pointed upwards, and with his other bleeding hand wrapped firmly around the handle of the sword, he shouted as loudly as he could in Yoshian, "Meet with me, Lady of War, Goddess of Power!"

The white jewel began to shine…

**_To be continued…_**


	56. Chapter Fifty Five: The Blessing

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 55 - The Blessing**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"Well, well, well, you've got guts. Or maybe it's sheer bloody-mindedness. Either way, you've got some nerve coming here…"

Laryshka's form came into focus in front of Darkmark, along with the stone platform and the vastness of Chaos behind her, which did not frighten Darkmark quite as much this time as it did before, partly because he could not hear it. Somehow he was still holding Karlo-Shin's sword, even more inexplicably still lodged in the platform as it had been moments before, and he drew it from the stone and held it up, inspecting the edge for damage.

"That sword you hold was enchanted by me once before… the edge will never dull, and it can cut through any non-metallic material. It is also sufficiently light that any Yoshi may wield it, but should anyone less than a saviour touch it, the weight enchantment will be momentarily reversed, making it as heavy as a tonne of lead."

"And thus, as I can pick it up, it should prove to you -and me- that I am the sixth saviour. No doubts any more, this is the proof…"

Laryshka nodded slowly. "We detected your exorcism moments before… perhaps you are ready now, ready to begin fulfilling your destiny and to begin writing the next legend of Octotheism…"

Darkmark held out the sword, handle first, to Laryshka. "You told me that if I were to bring you a silver sword, you would enchant it for me. Here is the sword… enchant it."

"Saviour though you may be, I don't like you very much." Laryshka took the sword from him, snatching it out of his hands in an indignant show of her disapproval at the tone of his demand, before throwing it up into the air where it stayed. The sword began to rotate slowly, and Laryshka started to wave her arms in an intricate fashion, tracing out symbols Darkmark did not recognise, before giving a final loud cry in an ancient language. A bolt of lightning came down out of the Chaos above them and struck the point of the sword, which was enveloped in a blinding light for a few moments before it fell and clattered to the floor in front of Darkmark.

As he reached out to pick it up, she told him, "An enchantment has now been lain upon that blade… powerful enough to forever banish any undead creature to the Underworld, powerless and reduced to nothing. Use it wisely, o saviour, and keep it with you at all times."

"My thanks to thee, Goddess." Darkmark snarled curtly as he closed his fingers around the silver handle. As he held it firm in his hand, the blade began to glow with a pale white light, and Darkmark felt something come over him… for but a single moment, he felt peaceful, all his hatred and anger dissipated, his evil thoughts vanished… but then they returned, just as powerful as before.

"Go now, saviour, and bring light to the darkened lands…"

* * *

The light faded, and Manny opened his eyes to see Darkmark in the same position as before, only the sword he was holding now shone with a faint white light, and his bleeding hands had been healed. Darkmark drew the sword from the stone platform and picked up the scabbard, attaching it to the left side of his saddle, just like Manny's, and sheathed the sword in it. He then put the octagram back in his saddlebags, and beckoned for Manny to follow him, but one of the priests quickly stepped forwards.

"Saviour, give us your blessing." He quickly uttered, looking into Darkmark's eyes. The other two also came forwards, and stood there expectantly, waiting as Darkmark tried to recall what he was supposed to do…

* * *

_Vachez dipped the thin brush into the inkwell and held Marcus's arm with his other hand as he began the conversion ceremony. Holding the brush just above Marcus's arm, he asked, "Do you accept all I have told you, of all that exists in this world?"_

_"Yes, I accept." Marcus replied, and Vachez painted a circle on Marcus's skin, being careful to keep the shape correct. "Do you accept what you have learned, all of the knowledge and wisdom you gained this day?"_

_"I accept." Marcus repeated, and Vachez drew a second circle, then a line connecting the two, starting on a larger circle. One circle for each deity, one circle for every belief they symbolised…_

_"Do you accept what you have been taught, of all time and space?"_

_"I accept." Another circle, another line._

_"Do you accept what you have been told, of your fate and the fate of us all?"_

_"I accept…"_

_"Do you accept all I have said, of your individual power?"_

_"I accept."_

_"Do you accept all you have been taught, of the teachings of love and compassion?"_

_Marcus closed his eyes. "I accept."_

_"Do you accept our beliefs, and the hope and courage they provide?"_

_"I accept."_

_Vachez moved his hand, ready to paint the final circle onto Marcus's arm. "Do you accept the existence of the forces of death and destruction, the forces which you must never give in to?"_

_The images of his future self that he had been shown flashed through Marcus's head… of great power at his fingertips with which he could destroy anything he wished… of power with which he could return the pain he had been given…_

_"Do you accept this?"_

_Marcus sighed and thought, I will never turn evil as long as Shiala lives, for it would sadden her…_

_"I accept."_

_Vachez painted on the final circle and the lines connecting it to the others. Putting down the brush, he held his right hand over his chest, then placed it upon Marcus's. "I bless you, Marcus Charris, for you are now one of the Octotheists, one of the believers of the religion of the Yoshies."_

_Marcus put his right hand over Vachez's. "I accept your blessing, and that of the church."_

_Vachez took his hand away and smiled. "I am happy to have been here for you, to have given you what you asked for. May the gods favour you this day…"_

* * *

Darkmark took a deep breath, and placed his right hand over his heart. After all they had done for him, if this was all that they asked for, he might as well give it to them and make them happy…

He placed his hand upon the white chest of the first clergyman, who put his hand over Darkmark's and thanked him in Yoshian, before releasing Darkmark's hand and allowing him to move on to the next minister. After giving his blessing to the third, they stepped back and gave him a farewell wave as he and Manny began to leave. "May Karshina smile upon you and your friend." One of them called, and Darkmark nodded to himself as he and Manny walked back out into the open air of Sansata city, ready to end the journey they had begun, to finish their quest for vengeance against the dark wizard Foryo…

**_To be continued…_**


	57. Chapter Fifty Six: The Prophecy

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 56 - The Prophecy**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention (with the exception of the Magikoopa within this chapter), the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Much of the day had already passed by the time Darkmark and Manny left the church, and the sky was covered with dark, menacing storm clouds threatening to let loose at any moment. The two of them quickly moved through the grimy, run-down streets, noting the stench of fear associated with any town living under the iron fist of a tyrannical dictator. The sun was starting to set, and rising up out of a forest to the northwest was a dark, foreboding castle, though it was too dark to see much detail from the distance they were at.

They walked past many beggars of all races, steel-plated human city guards looking for any excuse to set upon any individual merely to relieve the boredom, scantily-clad women of the night starting on their routines, shady characters attempting to con people out of their money with gambling tables, and rats skittering in and out of all the dark side alleys…

"I hate this place." Darkmark muttered darkly. "I have only been in this city for less than a day and I already want to leave."

"For once, I think we're on even terms…" Manny concurred.

They took a left turn and found themselves in a slightly nicer area, but it was only nice on a relative scale. There was a market that had closed for the day and was now being roamed by at least one gang, several barred and locked shops, more city guards, a few smoky-looking, dank bars, and a mercenaries' guild. In fact, the only thing on the street that looked remotely appealing was a large building quite like the University in Corvan, advertising itself as a 'School for the adept at second sight'.

"The famous oracle school…" Manny murmured. "They say that this is the third one that was ever set up; the first one was opened by Miyala in the city of Karnavéy, northeast of here."

Darkmark nodded in silent recognition, taking a look in the first set of gates as they passed. Though most of the rooms were dark, there were lights on in a few showing that there were night classes taking place, and a few students were milling about, most of them carrying small bundles of equipment. As they passed a second gate, they saw a curious sight; a black-robed Magikoopa was reading someone's fortune, but suddenly he stopped and looked over to Darkmark, staring directly at him even though he was hardly visible in the dark street.

The brown Yoshi stopped and stared back, and the Magikoopa's gaze did not falter. Darkmark walked forwards, through the open gates, and strode towards the Magikoopa with Manny following close behind. As they approached, he called out to them in a deep voice with a Kooparian touch to it, giving a slight snarl to his words. "I sensed your aura from quite a distance… I believe it would be best if you would lend me but twenty minutes of your time, to read your fortune."

Darkmark was sceptical. There was a small crowd watching them, and the Magikoopa was wearing dark glasses that covered his eyes. His black robes went right down to his feet, and in one hand he carried a short wand with an orange gem at the tip, which shone brightly in the light from the torches running along the footpaths outside the school. Darkmark was distracted for a moment and looked on towards the building, past a statue of Miyala, seeing a brightly lit sign above the main doors that carried only a single symbol; two small, half-closed eyes beneath a bigger, fully open eye, the symbol of the oracles.

"Come, trust me, I feel your power and I wish to read your fortune…"

Slowly, Darkmark walked up to the Magikoopa, and stood facing him, folding his arms. The Magikoopa waved his wand in a circle repeatedly, forming a trace of bright blue mist where it went, before three symbols appeared from the mist; a red triangle, a yellow circle, and a blue square. They continued to spin for a few moments before the oracle snapped his fingers and snarled something in Koopa, making the square stop above the other two.

The Magikoopa then stashed his wand in his robes and took Darkmark's right hand, rubbing his chin in thought. "I can see your past… your name is Marcus Charris, and you hail from Yoshi's Island far to the east… I see a blue Yoshi, that one behind you… I see you playing with him… I can see a pink Yoshi… her name; Alziana… I know all you have done with her; I can see you hugging her, I see you kissing her, I can see you mating with her…"

Darkmark suddenly grew indignant and made a lunge for the Magikoopa's throat, but his hand passed right through the black robes as the body they covered melted into the shadows and re-formed just a small distance away. "Impressive, no?"

"Very." Darkmark muttered in annoyance. "What _other_ personal memories are you looking at?"

"Only similar ones involving a feral Yoshi…"

Darkmark's eye twitched as he attempted to control his anger, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Go on…"

With a wave of his left claw, the Magikoopa spun the symbols around, shifting the circle up above the others. "I can see everything in the present, too… the flail you carry at your side, and the silver sword hanging in its scabbard… I can sense an enormous flux of ether around you; you have great psionic potential, do you not?"

"I do, want to see?" Darkmark replied, holding up a hand and making psionic energy crackle and buzz around his whole lower arm, making the small crowd behind him step back.

"However," the Magikoopa continued, impervious, "I see greater potential not yet realised… a forbidden, awesome power, more powerful than your current psionics, waiting to be unleashed upon the world…"

"What is it? Tell me!" the brown Yoshi demanded, and the Magikoopa snickered for a moment before holding out a clawed hand.

"To do that, I will need to look into your future, and that is not a free service…"

Before he even fully realised what he was doing, Darkmark's hand dove into his saddlebags and withdrew a handful of gold coins, which he dropped into the waiting orange hand of the oracle. Pocketing them, he snapped his fingers and spun the three symbols a final time, stopping the triangle at the top, before he took Darkmark's hand again and closed his eyes, apparently going into a deep trance.

"I see much evil ahead… I see dragon wings, strong and powerful… I see fangs stained with blood… the mountains in the southwest… ruins sealed away beside the Underworld… I can sense vast waves of psionic energy… I see a marble temple… valleys of fire…" The Magikoopa's breath steadily became more frantic, his words more erratic, "…flames… all-consuming flames enveloping the lands… many cities under siege…"

The oracle's hand began to shake as he delved further into the future, and his speech became more disconnected than it had been before. "…seven children… the Koopas… seven fragments… the Lord of Darkness… the seal… a golden Yoshi… Sévar…!"

Suddenly the Magikoopa stumbled back, snapping out of the trance, almost tripping over his robes but still staying upright and gasping, "The seal will be undone within this era… and the great legend, the great prophecy, will come to pass…"

He regained himself and took out his wand again as silence enveloped all those present. Darkmark looked over to Manny uneasily, and deciding it was time he moved on, handed the Magikoopa another fistful of coins and strode briskly away, attempting to commit all he had heard to memory, though it was slipping away like sand through his fingers…

"We're leaving here tomorrow." He told Manny firmly. "I have had enough of this place…"

**_To be continued…_**


	58. Chapter Fifty Seven: Silver Shadow

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 57 - Silver shadow**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_"I see dragon wings, strong and powerful…"_

_Dragon wings? Why dragon wings? I've already met a dragon once before…_

_"I see fangs stained with blood…"_

_Could that be Klashkna? His fangs drip blood all the time…_

_"The mountains in the southwest…"_

_What's there for me? They say the Underworld Entrance is there, but it's sealed…_

Darkmark was going through all of the things that the Magikoopa Oracle had said the previous night, wondering to himself what they meant as he lay half-asleep under the bedclothes, straining to recall all that had been said.

_"Ruins sealed away beside the Underworld…"_

_Perhaps that's what I need to go to, but why?_

_"I can sense vast waves of psionic energy…"_

_No surprises there, I'll probably still be alive…_

Darkmark heard shuffling to his left as Manny, in the other bed, started to stir.

_"I see a marble temple… valleys of fire…"_

_Sounds like that Marble Altar that Manny told me about once… I can't remember what it does… and valleys of fire? Are there volcanoes in the mountains in the southwest?_

_"…Flames… all-consuming flames enveloping the lands… many cities under siege…"_

_Probably human cities. Serves them right._

_"…Seven children… the Koopas… seven fragments…"_

_Seven children and seven fragments? Who would -I- have children with? And why would the Koopas be involved? And fragments of what?_

_"The Lord of Darkness… the seal… a golden Yoshi… Sévar…!"_

_And then it's the legend… the final great legend of Octotheism. Sévar. And the seal to the underworld…_

Suddenly, Darkmark opened his eyes, sensing something… something supernatural, something definitely not good for his health…

He sat bolt upright in the bed, looking around. The two-bed hotel room was small and grotty, with wallpaper coming off in several places, a disgusting wooden floor Darkmark had vowed never to step on barefoot, and two rusting bed frames with moth-eaten mattresses, the only comfort of which was the remote softness which probably wouldn't stay there for long. On one side of the room was a plate-glass window, and on the other side was the cloudy grey sky above Sansata, a truly disheartening sight. Manny was also stirring, and sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he attempted to properly wake up and keep away from his dreams.

Darkmark sensed something once more, and figured out that it was ethereal… ether was a strange non-physical substance that was everywhere upon Chyrus, and could be changed back and forth from magic, psionic energy and chi. And there was a very large surge just outside, as though it were being concentrated…

"Get down!" Darkmark shouted, holding his right hand up suddenly.

It almost worked. Just as there was a sudden explosion and the window blew forwards into thousands of razor-sharp shards, a translucent purple shield formed from the psionic energy around Darkmark's hands and was held in the air in what almost seemed to go in slow motion. The front of the cloud of glass passed over Manny, who had thrown himself down as instructed, and embedded itself in the shield sending shocks of pain, like pins and needles, into Darkmark's hand. Not expecting this, he felt his concentration falter and he, too, ducked down just as the shield dissipated and the psionic energy returned to the ether from whence it came. Holding an arm over his face, Darkmark took several cuts to it as the glass rained down, but emerged relatively unscathed compared to what he would have been had he not moved from where he had sat.

Immediately, he sat back up, ignoring the multitude of shallow cuts across his arm, and stared at the blown-out window frame, not entirely sure of what to expect, but charging a vast amount of psionic energy about his hands as he patiently waited.

Then, landing gracefully on the windowsill and rolling inside, came the very same silvery assassin that Darkmark had seen at Shiala's execution, the student to that ruthless Anthro Yoshi that had wronged him so…

Leaping forwards, he made a grab for her but she darted out of the way, drawing two long, curved swords with red handles and bright yellow tassels, giving a high war cry in another language as she charged some form of bright white energy at the tips of her swords, which she touched together. Again, Darkmark raised a shield and was stunned by the result; much like when he had attempted to use psi against Manny, the white bolt of chi rebounded off of the shield and was sent straight back at Tsi-Lau, its colour changed to a bright purple. However, she was much faster than Darkmark, and her lightning reflexes took her out of its path as it blew a hole in the wall behind her, sending a cloud of plaster billowing back.

Still shocked at what had happened, Darkmark barely managed to avoid a swipe from Tsi-Lau's blades, drawing his new silver sword with a light shring, and the blade promptly began to shine dimly, just enough to be noticed. He held it in front of him parallel to his body as a shield, moving it rapidly to deflect her sudden barrage of quick strikes, before she jumped back and stood at the edge of the hole in the masonry, looking at her swords in astonishment.

Although it apparently could cut any non-metallic material, the edge on Karlo-Shin's sword was still sufficiently sharper – and harder – than the ones on Tsi-Lau's blades, as there were several small nicks where her swords had been cut by the magic blade on Darkmark's weapon. Sheathing one of them, she whipped out a handful of needles from her saddlebags and was about to throw them when something else stopped her; Manny.

After finally getting enough sense to join the fight, Manny grabbed his sword and lunged forward just in time to make a slash for Tsi-Lau's arm, slitting through her right wrist as she held her arm back, and she gave a cry of surprise more than pain, dropping the needles. _My sensei would scold me if only she had seen that…_

Cutting her losses, the assassin quickly sheathed her other sword and leapt out through the gaping hole in the wall, vanishing from sight.

"She'll come back for us, I know she will."

"Well then…" Darkmark replied, "It's best that we not be here when she comes back. Let us leave immediately… we can stop for food and supplies somewhere on the way out."

He started picking up the needles she had dropped, then opened his saddlebags and dropped them into an empty compartment, making a mental note never to put his hands in there carelessly. He dusted himself off and tended to his cuts, licking them clean before attempting a psionic enchantment to heal them, but failing for some reason, and with a shrug of indifference, he gathered his things and prepared to leave.

* * *

"I think I understand it now…" Darkmark murmured as they walked through the glum, misery-ridden streets of Sansata. "Chi, magic, and psi all use ether, and so interfere with each other in different ways… psi will overcome chi, chi can overcome magic, and magic can overcome psi… just like a triangle, the user of one is always vulnerable to another but powerful against the remaining one…"

"Makes sense." Manny murmured, glad that Darkmark was trying to make conversation for once. "All those magic users out there are lucky that not many people use chi, and they helped to eliminate the psychics…"

"We're not gone yet." Darkmark replied. "Any feral has the potential, it's just that nobody alive -knows- how to use it… except me. Perhaps one day, I shall change this, but it is not time for that yet…"

Silence fell over them as they continued across the cobblestone road, stepping away from the drunks and beggars that lined its edges, pushing away those who attempted to confront them. Just as they got near the end of the road, a human teenager ran out before them with a knife and tried to threaten them with it, demanding something that Darkmark couldn't quite make out through the psychotic babbling he was making.

_Narcotics_. He thought to himself, sighing as the human waved the knife. 'Narcotics' was the collective term for all the various plants with either fruit or leaves that could induce hallucinations, euphoria, or sudden mood changes, which tended to grow far from the vast grasslands upon which most of the cities were built. The human monarchy had legalised them long ago, about the time of Vizorvy, setting up many plantations and selling them at excessive prices, always neglecting to mention the horrible mental damage they could do. There were others not from plants that the humans did not know about - such as fuzzy dust, once rife among feral villages - but Octotheism heavily discouraged their use, and the Yoshies had long since left them to the humans for the most part.

Darkmark felt it would be no great loss to the world if this crazy addicted human were removed from existence, but as he raised his hand, Manny slapped it down in protest, cocking his head towards the nearest mildly interested city guard. "Don't do it, he's not worth it. Just draw your sword and threaten him…"

"With pleasure." Darkmark said sneeringly, taking out Karlo-Shin's sword and pointing it straight at the human's throat. "Back off." He commanded, feeling no need to follow it up with an 'or I'll…' statement. The tone in his voice said it all.

Running just as fast as he came, the human retreated as Darkmark sighed again and sheathed his sword. "Narcotics. Filthy humans… only they would use them, especially at that age. Only they would _grow_ the things, for that matter…"

"Only convinces me all the more that they can't be staying much longer." Manny mused as they started walking again. "If the prophecy is indeed coming true, Sévar will clear them out soon enough…"

"If I got the chance," Darkmark growled, "I'd kill them all myself and we wouldn't _need_ Sévar to come back…"

* * *

Tsi-Lau watched from the shadows, ignoring the drug-crazed human sprinting past her, tripping over his own feet. The cut to her wrist she had healed with her chi, and her swords she had repaired with a different spell, but she was disconcerted about the way her powers had been reflected back at her, morphed into another form of ethereal energy.

_Psionics…_

She remembered learning about psychics during her training, how they were once the greatest threat to the assassins with their powers, but the human magic users had destroyed them, almost wiping out the entire feral Yoshi race in the process. But yet, here was one several generations later, alive and breathing and preparing to unleash his wrath upon the world. But she would kill him; it was her duty as commanded by her sensei to slay this 'Darkmark', and if she would be forced to refrain from chi… well, those powers weren't the only trick she knew.

Watching them walk out through the northern gate, she prepared to follow them, wherever they were going. _You are as likely to escape your death as you could your own shadow… prepare yourself for the afterlife, psychic._

She took off after them, keeping her distance and staying to the shadows.

**_To be continued…_**


	59. Chapter Fifty Eight: The Final Stretch

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 58 -The final stretch**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

The forest surrounding the vast area of land around the castle was almost stereotypical of its owner. There was little light as it was due to the storm clouds that hung above the city, and less still managed to shine through the leaves and dead branches that formed the canopy of the dark forest. There was a dirt track they were following, overgrown with weeds and ready to be reclaimed by the forest at any moment, and deep ruts in the mud showed that horses and carts frequently travelled by. The two Yoshies stuck to the edge of the track, careful neither to stay in the centre of the track or stray from it and get lost in the dark sea of trees.

All that could be heard was the wind howling through the branches, stirring up a slow, steady fall of brown leaves. It was early Eira, the seventh day to be precise, and the autumn season was drawing to a close, in preparation for the cold and occasionally snowy weather that dominated the following months of Jallora and Valsa. As such, the wind was unpleasantly cold, and both Yoshies had wrapped their cloaks tightly about them, holding them closed with their hands.

Before leaving the city they had stopped by a small shop and bought what they thought they might need; plenty of food and a compass. The former to make the journey there and back, and the latter to avoid any magical enchantments that might have been placed upon the forest and all within it…

Currently, it still pointed them northwest, the direction it had indicated when they had left; a good sign for sure. Darkmark put it back in his saddlebags and held his cloak closed again as they trudged onwards, travelling slowly across the murky ground, while the huge stone castle slowly became closer and closer to them…

* * *

All was silent within Sira's residence; she was lying still and quiet upon the sofa, her eyes closed, deep in thought. She didn't know where Tamaroro had gone, but she knew he was in the flat somewhere and would let him be for now. Many of Visali's things had been donated to the university, but she had kept all of the personal things of his around the place, as well as the various items left behind by Dave and the large brown shield she remembered belonging to Manny, wherever he was…

Her grief had soon turned to rage; anger that someone would take away Visali from her, that someone cold and heartless would kill someone she knew had never hurt anybody. She had a sketchy description from the little orphan, but no leads to her or where she was except the assassin's guild, and she couldn't very well find an assassin and ask where to find their anthro leader.

_Unless…_

The thought had crossed her mind more than once to see if she could locate and join the guild, to get inside and begin planning her retribution against Visali's murderer. It might take her a while to get far enough up the ladder to meet with that assassin, and longer still to be able to defeat her, but there was nothing else she could do, as the city police did not want to get involved and probably were being paid off by that foul anthro herself…

She clenched her fists and teeth, feeling her hatred rise up again as she thought of the head assassin laughing as she murdered her victims, chuckling to herself as she covered her tracks and made herself invulnerable to anyone who dared to see retribution against her and her kind…

There was a sudden loud crash from behind her, and she looked over to see a bashful Tamaroro standing with his hands behind his back, pressed up against the wall. He appeared to have been hiding under Manny's shield, and had accidentally knocked it over, and as Sira got up to put it back he cowered under her as though he were expecting to be beaten.

"Tammy? Tammy, are you okay?" She asked, trying to force the anger out of her voice from the thoughts she had just had.

"I'm sorry!" Tammy pleaded, huddling up into a little green-and-white ball. "Don't hit me… please don't hit me…"

Sira tried not to swear as she replaced the shield and gently picked up the little baby. It was becoming ever more clear to her what must have been done to this child back when he was in the orphanage, and remembered him telling her how that anthro assassin had killed his parents, too…

Cradling him in her arms, she tried to make him calm down and succeeded in ceasing his cries. He huddled up to her and she held him close, leaning over him and whispering softly.

"Tammy… there's something I'm going to have to do, and I don't know what's going to happen to me…"

He looked up to her with his big, bright eyes. "What're you doing, mammy?"

She smiled gently, and said, "I'm going to go do what I can to find that person who killed our friends and family… I'm going to go do back to her what she's done to us… I'm going to find her and-"

"No, mammy, please don't…" Tammy replied, cutting her off. "Daddy always told me it was bad to hurt someone… even humans…"

Sira paused for a moment. It seemed that Tamaroro came from a devout family that had read him some of the less bloody stories from the Fayen, teaching him the morals therein. She hadn't gone to church for a long time, but didn't consider herself an unbeliever… it was just that she didn't have the time, and didn't see much point to it either. One of the many things taught but silently despised was the commandment that nobody was to inflict excess pain or suffering on anyone, even a human, even if they deserved it. The reasoning was that the Yoshies considered themselves better than the humans, and if they committed the same cold-blooded acts of violence, they would be sinking down to the level the humans were at. It was that reasoning, mostly, that made the Yoshies obey this law, but it was a common, unspoken understanding that they dearly wished to do otherwise and see the humans scream and writhe as they were paid back for all the pain they had caused…

"I won't. I'll kill her swiftly and leave her judgement up to the gods… as is commanded… but what she has done cannot go completely unpunished."

Tammy was silent for a moment, but meekly replied, "If you think that's what's right…"

Sira coddled him again. "I do, Tammy. I do…"

* * *

It was barely early evening by the time that the forest started to become seriously dark, as light rapidly vanished as the day came to a close. Darkmark and Manny had stopped walking for several minutes as the former tried – and failed – to cast some kind of light enchantment around them. Manny did not know of any magic spells he could try, and when Darkmark pulled out Karlo-Shin's sword, he found that the pale white glow was not enough to light the way with.

Not entirely sure what he was meant to do, Darkmark was continuously charging psionic energy around his right hand, then attempting to force it into some kind of light source in his palm, but every time he tried the energy would spark off and dissipate back into the ether. It was extremely unnerving for Manny, standing in pitch blackness, to keep watching jolts of what looked like purple electricity appear and disappear, particularly when Darkmark got annoyed and discharged the lot as a psionic bolt, providing only minor light as the flash lit up his body for a moment.

"Try something else, maybe?" Manny suggested helpfully, but he was met with an icy silence and continued to wait in the darkness, the cold wind whipping at him and billowing his cloak out behind him.

Darkmark put his hands together, arching his fingers as if to encase something between his palms. Psionic energy sparked between both hands as he charged it, and as the sparks became more frequent, it started to steadily stream between his palms.

_Okay… I have a good charge, but now, how do I make it into light? If only I had seen a magic spell that cast light, I could probably do this…_

What was light, anyway? The psionic energy was giving off purple light, just not enough to illuminate the path ahead. How, then, to do so? Charging enough of the energy to provide that kind of luminescence was more than Darkmark thought he could do. Was light another kind of energy, perhaps? If he could convert ether to psionic energy, and then psionic energy to fire, ice, or whatever else, surely he could convert it to light…

The first time he failed spectacularly; the energy discharged in his hands and provided only a bright flash, nothing more. He held his arm out the second time, finger curved upwards, and when he tried again, a red pentagram of light appeared just at his fingertips as the enchantment took place, and the purple energy about his hands sparked up above his hand, forming into a ball of white light, but the surprise of it all caught Darkmark off guard and his concentration faltered, as did the energy.

_Always expect it to work_, Darkmark thought, recalling the episode earlier that day with the shield. _Always expect it to work, and when it does, you won't be surprised…_

Finally, he pulled it off; the energy quickly shot up his arm and into the air just above his hand, manifesting itself into a white ball which began to shine light from it, showing clearly the path ahead for about five or six feet. It hovered just above his hand and followed it when he moved, even when he turned his hand over. Satisfied, he moved on, hearing Manny's footsteps behind him as they delved ever deeper into the forest…

**_To be continued…_**


	60. Chapter Fifty Nine: The Assassin's Test

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 59 - The assassin's test**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Sorry it was late!I'll put up another chapter this week to make up for it, I promise._

Sidling through the dark streets of Corvan in the early hours of the morning, Sira had her eyes wide open and her wand out, ready in case she found what she was looking for. Assassins prowled the streets at all hours of the day, so when less people were about she was far more likely to find one…

However, she had been through many alleys already, without success. She hadn't found anyone yet, and was starting to worry about what might happen if Tammy woke up before she got back. She moved onwards, going down another street, sticking to the shadows, when her luck turned in her favour and she spotted someone, leaning patiently against a wall with their arms crossed, waiting. On the back of the white Birdo's left hand was the symbol she had seen engraved on the note embedded in her door, a symbol she connected to the assassins…

Sira took cover behind a few crates and waited, making sure she hadn't been seen. Then poking her head just up from the crate, she carefully took aim with her wand and whispered the incantation under her breath. Immediately, she could hear someone else's voice in her head as she read the thoughts of the assassin…

_Business is slow tonight… and I'm so tired… all those hours of practising resisting sleep deprivation are helping, but still… who in their right mind would be looking for an assassin now? Granted, it's inconspicuous, but…whatever. There's nobody out at all, I may as well go back and report…_

"_Dispellata Magica_." Sira whispered, and the voice ceased. The assassin stretched, shivered, and walked off without looking back, unaware of the dark pink Yoshi trailing her…

Sira followed the Birdo down several streets, leading back the way Sira had come, heading eventually towards the infamous Club Veils. Ducking down the alley adjacent to the building, the assassin almost lost Sira as she struggled to keep up, but she got around the corner just in time to see the assassin walk through the wall.

Not through a door, or passageway, but through a solid brick wall, with no trouble whatsoever. Sira blinked in mild surprise, but walked straight over to the wall and, after listening to make sure there was nobody on the other side, gently put her hand on the surface of the bricks. Seemed solid enough to her.

She saddlebagged her wand and sidestepped along, tapping gently on the wall, and finally found the right spot, looking in amazement as her hand passed right through the bricks. _A simple illusion, but convincing nonetheless…_

Sira walked through the false wall, finding herself immediately confronted by an angry-looking green Yoshi, who sounded quite old compared to her. "Who are you?" he demanded, "You don't look like one of us!"

The pink Yoshi jumped a little, but regained her composure as the Yoshi stepped up to her with an angry look on his face. "This is the assassin's guild, correct? I want to join up…"

There was a moment of silence before the green Yoshi burst into laughter. "_You?_ No offence, but you really don't look up to it…"

Sira struck out at him in anger, but he was quicker and blocked her swipe. Regardless, she swung up with her other arm and kicked at him at the same time, blocked on both counts, and managed to dodge a counterattack from her adversary, moving her arm up into the path of his fist. She lashed out again, attempting to change the angle of her swing at the last moment, but he still managed to dodge her and kick out, only just missing her chest as she stepped out of the way. She swung her body around and whipped her tail at him, taking his feet out from under him, but he landed on his hands and bounced back to his feet, kicking out at her as he came back up. She stumbled back as she avoided the kick, and when she swung for him again, he caught her arm in his hand and tightened his grip around her wrist, doing the same to her other arm when she tried to hit him again.

"Not bad, not bad, maybe I was wrong…" he mused, moving his leg up to block a kick. "Appearances can be deceptive… alright, I will let you through to take the initiation test, but be warned, you may lose everything if you fail…"

"I'm not afraid of death." Sira stated firmly. "Not any more…"

The green Yoshi released her arms. "Then you may take the test. May Karshina smile upon you…"

He suddenly struck out at her and knocked her back, grabbing a knife from his belt. Pointing the knife at her, he shouted something at her in Ancient Yoshi and a misty green spray shot out from the tip, clouding her senses and sending her into a deep sleep…

* * *

When she awoke, she found herself inside what appeared to be a prison cell at the end of a long corridor. She felt groggy but managed to shake it away, getting up off of the floor and brushing herself off, looking out through the bars. Three sides of the cell were solid stone wall, but the fourth was a series of bars spaced too closely for her to squeeze through. There was a locked door in the bars, and beyond that there was a long corridor that she couldn't see much of in the darkness, with assassins here and there holding torches and waiting for her patiently. 

_An obstacle course, perhaps… looks simple, but I'll need to keep on my toes… at least this finally explains why a single-floor nightclub took up an entire four-storey building; it's just a front to conceal the guild…_

Before anything else, she needed to escape, and looked around the cell for something – anything – to help her. She didn't see anything, and walked up to the bars, testing each one to see if there were any that were loose, but they were all firmly in place and didn't rattle at all. Checking her saddlebags, she found that her wand had been taken, and all she had left was the few coins she had left with. Perhaps they only wanted to take _those_ from her cold, dead body…

Sitting down a moment to think, her eyes scanned the walls of the cell, finally hitting upon something in the far corner; a loose brick. She pulled it out of the wall and threw it at the lock on the door, but it bounced off with a resounding clang and only lightly dented the cover.

She picked it back up and slammed it against the lock a few more times, without success, and leant against the bars again with a sigh, looking out into the corridor. The nearest assassin, a dark green Yoshi, was watching her with mild interest, but she doubted he would help her if she asked, and as she looked around again she spotted something useful; the hinges of the door were on the inside of the cell, and did not appear terribly secure…

She kicked the door experimentally and saw the screws in the top hinge rattle, and on further inspection, saw them to be partly unscrewed already. It was hard to notice in the light, but notice it she did, and quickly managed to unscrew them the rest of the way with her fingers. As the third and final screw fell to the floor, the hinge came free from the wall and she stepped back a little, before planting a jumping kick on the top of the door.

The forces around the lock, acting as a pivot, were transferred to the lower hinge and ripped it out of the wall enough for her to completely unhinge the door with a follow-up kick. Without any hinges, the door fell to the floor and left her to walk calmly out of the cell.

"Not bad, not bad." The first assassin told her as she approached. "Lots of them don't see the hinges, or even then, don't notice that they're slightly unscrewed… a good assassin needs to be able to see even the smallest things around them, for any small detail may prove critically important… but, enough of that."

He gestured down the corridor; there was a series of tiles on the floor between him and the next assassin, a yellow Birdo. "Just get to her, and you can keep going."

Sira looked carefully at the tiled floor. "Booby traps, right?"

The green assassin nodded, then went silent, watching her closely as she thought carefully how to go about this. The tiled area stretched for about fifteen feet, far too broad for her to try and jump across, even if the ceiling had been high enough for her to flutter. She had no idea what kind of traps were there, but she had a rough idea of how to find out…

Heading back to the cell, she picked up the broken door and carried it back, laying it down on the floor just before the tiles. She gave it a solid push and it slid across the smooth, polished surface, taking up most of the width of the corridor and stopping only a foot or two short of the end. As it went, darts, arrows, and pins shot out from the walls and embedded themselves in the bricks, showing clearly where they had come from. Looking at the various projectiles lodged in the wall, she noted that they were all above a certain height, and she sprawled on the floor and began to crawl forwards carefully, keeping her head down as she went. She set off most of the traps again as she crawled along, but they all sailed over her harmlessly and she made it to the other side in one piece, standing up and brushing herself off as the next assassin greeted her.

"That's one of the most original approaches to that I've seen. Most people just go down there, thinking they can run faster than the darts can fire… and they're all wrong. If you pass the next two challenges like that, I'm sure you'll make an excellent assassin."

Sira nodded solemnly; she had no intentions of joining the guild for any purpose other than to avenge Visali's death via any means possible. Looking forwards, she saw another long corridor, with a male human standing with his back to her. "Any good assassin has to be stealthy… sneak up on him and knock him out."

The assassin went silent, and Sira shrugged to herself. She took a cautious step forwards, then spread her legs to stop them rubbing against each other and producing friction sounds. She found it very hard to walk on her tiptoes, necessitated by the distinct sound Yoshi boots made, and nearly lost her balance several times but managed to maintain near-complete silence, breathing slowly though her nose. She was very tense and found it harder to keep going, but she was only about five feet away from him, if that…

Something clicked in her mind, and she gently let down her feet so that she could stop standing on her tiptoes. She then tipped her head back, and brought it forwards again, using the momentum to launch her tongue forwards, the tip held as a firm, round ball, and it smacked into the back of the human's head with sufficient force to knock him out cold. He stood, wavering for just a moment, before falling forwards, clearly out of it. The next and final assassin, a blue Yoshi holding up a torch, nodded in approval as she walked up to him.

"Most Yoshies forget about that… it's hardest for the humans, but the Birdos can easily fire eggs to get them… anyway, I've been watching you, so let's see if you can finish this final test of your potential as an assassin…"

He put the torch in a bracket behind him, and drew one of the two swords at his waist, handing it to her before drawing the other. "Every assassin must be a good combatant… I will hold back most of what I have learned here, but I shall still challenge you to see if you are worthy of fighting among us. As for you, hold nothing back, you hear?"

Sira nodded, holding the blade two-handed and trying to remain calm, though it was just starting to dawn on her how much danger she was in… after all, it had mostly been luck that had gotten her this far, hadn't it?

_I hope Karshina stays with me for this…_

He bowed to her and she returned the gesture, then they both stepped back quickly, holding their swords up defensively. Sira made the first strike, a weak thrust only to test her adversary's reactions, and he blocked it easily with a parry strike, making no counterattack. She feinted once, trying to strike while his guard was down, but he recovered quickly enough to block the real attack and made a swift counter-slash that she caught on her own blade. He began to press an attack against her, making several long, fluid swipes that seemed to all connect together into a single graceful attack, and she had a tough time stopping them, dodging by mere inches on a few occasions.

Soon realising she couldn't win by merely defending, she attempted to counterattack and prompted a sudden wrathful flurry of attacks from her opponent, feeling a sharp sting on her arm as his sword became a blur. She tried to match his pace, failing miserably, and took a deep gash to her chest, sending her backwards clutching at it. She let go as she saw him coming for her, quickly bringing up her sword to deflect his strike and holding his blade in place as she stepped back…

The adrenaline was rushing through her head and she started laying on a heavy-handed attack, combining several broad, powerful slashes and equally strong kicks from her feet, knocking the assassin back, though he sustained no injuries from her sudden assault. Tiring, she let up a little and parried an upwards slash, using the momentum transferred to her sword to bring it around in a full circle and strike at him in the same fashion, though he simply sidestepped it. She jumped back, holding her sword behind her, then planted her feet against the wall behind her and leapt forwards with a powerful swing, planting a hit so solid against his sword that it fell from his hands.

Landing on her toes, she spun gracefully and brought the flat of her sword up to his neck, and he stood there unblinking. "Congratulations… you will make a fine addition to our ranks. I'll take you upstairs now, and we'll get you a weapon and a code-name."

Sira nodded, smirking to herself in the darkness as the Yoshi took the torch out of its bracket and started walking. Thanking Karshina for her good luck under her breath, the pink Yoshi followed, wondering silently if she really did have the potential to be an actual assassin… whether or not she did, she would play along for now, until she had ample skills and an opportunity to strike at the Anthro assassin that had killed her Visali…

**_To be continued…_**


	61. Chapter Sixty: The Calm Before The Storm

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 60 - The calm before the storm**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's note: As promised. I should update on Sunday as usual._

It was quite late by the time Darkmark and Manny had set off again. Neither of them felt terribly at ease in the forest, despite the total lack of any wildlife whatsoever, and took turns sleeping throughout the night and into the morning. Still following the path and their compass, which had proven useful after they had found a few forks, they were unsure how far they were from the castle and didn't even know if they were still heading in the right direction, despite what their compass said. The layer of branches overhead had become quite thick, and they could no longer see the castle they were heading for…

Eventually Manny volunteered to climb a tree, but the rotted wood broke under his weight and sent him tumbling back down to the ground. When Darkmark tried next at a different tree, the same thing happened; it was as though the entire forest was made of trees that _looked_ like they were alive, but upon closer inspection were quite clearly dead, and had been for some time.

"It's like this whole damned forest is _undead_." Darkmark muttered, brushing dead twigs and mud off of his skin.

"I concur… this just doesn't feel right, I feel out of place here…"

Darkmark nodded, looking back up to the knotted masses of barren, nearly leafless branches intertwining above them and blotting out most of the light. Growling with anger, Darkmark threw a fireball up at them and burnt a sizeable hole as the fire continued along the branches for a bit before it burnt itself out. He could see that it was still dark and dreary in the sky above them, but still wanted to get up to have a look around…

He snapped his fingers suddenly, and beckoned to Manny to come to him, charging a small amount of psionic energy in his right hand, keeping it aimed at his blue comrade. Manny looked at Darkmark questioningly, and the brown one explained to him, "I want to try a little psionic transfiguration; perhaps I can give you wings…"

"No way." Manny replied immediately, stepping back. "You're not using those powers on me, not a chance. You do it! It won't hurt _you_, will it?"

Darkmark paused, nodding slowly in agreement at what Manny had said, handing his blue accomplice the compass and charging a little more energy as he thought how to go about his task. Perhaps just like creating the ball of light, he needed to manifest the psionic energy into another form, only this time, it would be a solid form rather than another form of energy…

It took him quite a few tries; the energy discharged harmlessly the first four or five times, before Darkmark took a different tack and stopped trying to aim his hand at himself. He let the energy flow from his arm all through his body, then up to his back where he had once sported large Yoshi wings as a result of a blue Koopa shell, and attempted to use the energy there. It dissipated again, but he felt sure that he was on the right track, and gathered the energy once more, forcing it into a tighter space, then tried to meld it into a set of wings upon his back.

Manny watched in awe as two small bulges formed on Darkmark's back and burst out suddenly, but all that came of it was a sudden spurt of blood from each bulge before they went down and disappeared. Darkmark gritted his teeth in pain for a few moments before trying again, and this time the bulges started to morph into wings, but a sudden stab of pain made him lose his concentration and the psionic energy dissipated once more, causing the bulges to bleed and recede again. Taking deep, calm breaths, Darkmark made a final attempt, and the bulges spread up, fanning out into large, brown, majestic wings with a spike at the 'elbow' and vibrant red membranes. Manny gasped as they fanned out and Darkmark flexed them gently, getting used to them, before Manny shouted, "Hey, dragon wings! Awesome!"

Darkmark smirked to himself before attempting to beat them a few times, then running back and forth along the path for practice as he figured out how to use his newfound acquisition. They weren't permanent; he could feel slight mental strain as he kept charging psionic energy to keep them where they were, and figured that he could dispel them when he didn't need them any more. Eventually, he jumped once, then a second time, then on the third jump he pushed himself up off the ground and up through the burned hole in the tree cover, barely clearing the tops of the trees and beating his wings furiously to try and gain altitude.

He found it very hard to pick it up as he went along, and kept bobbing up and down in the air as he lost altitude, then furiously beat his wings to fly back up again. He was circling over where he had emerged from the forest, trying desperately not to get blown away or lose sight of the hole he had burned in the trees, and took his chances by looking upwards.

Off in the distance, he saw the gloomy grey dreariness of Sansata city, and kept circling until he was facing in the opposite direction, scanning the horizon all the time. Soon he found himself looking at a large, foreboding castle, not too far away, with many square towers along the battlements, and a large keep inside. The tops of the towers and battlements were partly obscured by fog, and there was a sizeable, sturdy-looking portcullis at the front of the stone walls. Darkmark was so fascinated at this that he didn't notice he was dropping fast, and by the time he looked down he found himself breaking through the masses of dead branches – the hard way.

Dry, sharp branches whipped at him as he plummeted down, before he was caught on a larger branch that broke his fall before snapping and sending him the rest of the way down to the ground. He stood up, dazed, and found that he was fortunate to have landed only a short distance from the path, though Manny was nowhere to be seen. He dispelled his wings, feeling them fold into themselves before disappearing, and set back off along the path in what he thought was the right direction…

* * *

Manny was still looking up through the hole in the branches. Darkmark had suddenly disappeared from view a few moments before, and hadn't come back yet…

"Manny!"

The blue Yoshi heard his voice being called from somewhere up ahead, and ran along the path as quickly as he could to see if he could find Darkmark, calling back every so often to get a reply from his companion. His feet pounded on the rough dirt track as he ran onwards, but it almost seemed as if Darkmark's voice wasn't getting any closer…

Suddenly, something leapt out from the woods beside him and rammed into his body, sending him sprawling on his side on the ground. He grabbed his sword and looked up, slightly dazed, but found himself transfixed with fear as his eyes fixed themselves upon what had attacked him…

Stooped in front of him looked like it had once been human. It was roughly the same size and proportions as a human, but its skin was a pale, ghostly grey, and its eyes were a piercing red. It wore ragged, torn clothes and had messy grey hair, and it was baring two rows of sharp, yellowed fangs at the blue Yoshi, hissing as it drew closer. Manny remembered from old stories that it was a wight, an undead creature whose touch would drain the soul of its victim…

"Darkmark!" Manny shouted, scrabbling to his feet. "Help me!"

His voice echoed among the trees, and he stepped back as the wight advanced on him, its arms reaching out as it tried to touch its prey, before he suddenly struck out at it with his sword. The steel edge connected with the wight's arm, but it merely made a deep dent in the leathery skin and bounced off again as the wight made another grab for Manny. The tips of its fingers passed only but a few inches from Manny's nose, and he leapt backwards in fright, holding up his sword defensively despite the fact that it would do him no good…

"Darkmark!" He called out again. "I seriously need some help here!"

_Perhaps if I could slip by it…_

Manny struck out again with a solid hit, but it bounced off the tough grey skin of his enemy to no avail, and he desperately tried to run past it. It thrust a leg out to block his path and successfully tripped the blue Yoshi, sending him sprawling to the ground, and he was unable to scrabble to his feet before he felt its foot come down hard upon his saddle, keeping him pinned to the ground. Manny knew he was trapped and started to whisper a prayer very fast, closing his eyes as tears started to flow from them, praying for something, anything, to save him from the creature…

His salvation came, but not in the form of Darkmark or any divine intervention. Something, or someone, hit the wight just as it was about to touch Manny, and sent it onto the ground beside him, allowing him to get up and run from the creature as fast as his legs would take him without a backwards glance. He encountered Darkmark as he turned a corner, still shocked from his near-death experience, hardly able to form a coherent sentence through his fear and lack of breath.

Darkmark grabbed Manny and shook him repeatedly until he finally stopped babbling and calmed down enough to point behind him and gasp the name of the creature that had attacked him. Upon hearing of this, Darkmark's hand instinctively went to his flail, but he thought better of it and drew Karlo-Shin's sword instead, holding it steady as the blade shone with a bright white light. Heading back with Manny tailing him uncertainly, Darkmark arrived back at the spot where Manny had been soon afterwards, the sword still shining brightly.

However, the wight no longer appeared to be the greatest threat to them any more. The silver assassin was standing in front of it, with her hands held level to her body, and a silvery-white substance was flowing from them to an ethereal cage around the wight, keeping it imprisoned and unable to move. The cage suddenly contracted and passed through the wight, burning it away with a bright white flame until there was nothing left to show that it had ever been, leaving only a freezing cold wind blowing through the trees once more.

Tsi-Lau then turned to the two Yoshies, and drew her swords slowly, narrowing her eyes at Darkmark as he strode forwards to meet her, his own sword held firmly in his hand.

"Why are you following me?" He demanded. "Haven't I suffered enough at your hands, and the hands of that anthro assassin? Is it not enough for you to slaughter my friends? Was it not enough for you to rip apart my heart by eviscerating the one I loved? Why, why must you keep hurting me?"

She stared unblinkingly as he walked up to her, close enough to hit her if he wanted, and kept eye contact with him. "I have a job to do, that is all."

Darkmark snorted. "You know what they say…" He growled, edging closer, "Live by the sword, die by the sword."

With lightning reflexes Darkmark brought up his sword and thrust it into the body of the silver assassin, but the false image disappeared in a puff of smoke and left Darkmark swearing colourfully as his eyes scanned the trees around him. All was still and silent, and he slowly walked off again, taking the proffered compass from Manny and checking it to see that they were still headed in the same direction.

"We're not far. We should be there by tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest. If that assassin shows up again… she can feel the full wrath of my psionics, even if I don't yet know how much I can use them… yet. I shall show her if she makes another appearance."

**_To be continued…_**


	62. Chapter Sixty One: Shadow Slayer

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 61 - Shadow slayer**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's grovelling apology: Crap, how did I possibly forget to put this up? I uploaded it at the other location... sorry for the lateness. Sunday update as usual, unless my memory fails again. Shifty eyes_

The sun had just dipped below the horizon, casting the lands in darkness as the pair of Yoshies broke through the forest and found themselves at the foot of the castle walls. It was quite a magnificent structure, with a large, fortified portcullis, a bridge spanning a sizable moat that was diverting the natural course of a nearby river, square towers spaced unevenly at intervals across the battlements, and human guards patrolling them with torches, watchful for any intruders.

Darkmark and Manny sat down to rest and think their next step through, watching the guards patrol the top of the walls endlessly. There weren't too many of them, but it would be tough to get into the castle even without the likelihood of being spotted, and even then there were probably many more surprises in store. There was a tower rising above all the others from the centre of the castle, and Darkmark had a nagging feeling that it would be his final destination on his quest for vengeance…

Manny nudged him, and he snapped out of a daydream. "Look over there." Manny hissed. "Look how close those two towers are."

"Too far apart to grab hold of, don't you think?" Darkmark replied. "I mean, I could _probably_ fly up to the walls but that'd leave you stranded down below."

"I know, I'm just saying…" Manny murmured, "Perhaps they're close enough to try wall jumps?"

There was a moment of silence from the brown Yoshi, before he started heading back into the forest. "Maybe. But regardless, we've been walking all day, and we need to rest before going into that place. I've still got plenty of rations left; let's eat and try and get in tomorrow."

* * *

Early the next morning, they aroused from their slumber and quickly headed off again, brushing mud and twigs from their cloaks. Once they broke through the forest again, they found the weather had changed dramatically; where there had been only grey clouds the day before, there were now menacing black clouds that threatened a huge storm, monsoon, or hurricane. Definitely not a good omen, in Darkmark's opinion.

Something else immediately noticeable was a distinct lack of guards; only three or four were milling around, a perfect opening for the two Yoshies to try and scale the walls. They scurried over to the area Manny had pointed out yesterday, keeping to the edge of the forest, just behind the cover of the trees, before taking a run-up and successfully flutter jumping across the moat, though Darkmark slipped on the muddy ground as he landed and was almost plunged into the drink. Cursing under his breath as he got back up and Manny landed beside him, he looked straight up to find a human staring back at him, looking curiously over the edge of the battlements.

Darkmark's hand went into his saddlebags for one of the poison pins he had retrieved, but Manny's was quicker and before Darkmark could so much as aim a shot, one of Manny's throwing knives was sailing up through the air and embedded itself in the human's chest, sending him falling over the edge of the walls. He landed hard on the ground beside them, and Manny retrieved his knife, searching the guard for anything useful but coming up fruitless.

They surveyed the distance between the two square towers, making it to be about eight or nine feet, a bit far for them to try and hold both, but maybe close enough to try wall kicks, tricky though they were. Darkmark tried first, planting his feet against the solid stone walls, but he was unable to turn in the air in time and slammed tail first into the other tower. Manny was just as successful; though he turned around, he didn't kick off quickly enough and fell to the ground like a stone.

"This could take some time." The blue Yoshi muttered miserably as he brushed himself off, straightening his cloak.

"I think I'll fly, thank you very much." Darkmark mused, before unfurling his wings on the second attempt, taking a run-up and launching himself into the air. Furiously beating them as fast as he could, he gained enough altitude for him to turn around and try to make a grab for the battlements.

He grabbed hold of a raised stone with one hand, his body slamming into the wall moments later, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to lose his concentration, dispelling his wings. He quickly grabbed hold with his other hand, struggling to keep his grip firm, but managed to pull himself up and over, windmilling his legs in a desperate attempt to get over the barrier and onto the battlements, flopping on the cold stone once he had done so.

Another guard came running up to him, and he got to his feet with a resigned sigh. Pulling out his flail, he dodged the sword swing of the guard before kicking out, knocking the guard back a few steps. Darkmark then swung his flail around hard, and though the guard held up a small shield, the flail balls sailed over the top of it and hit his helmet hard enough to send him over the side of the walls and out of sight.

Darkmark waited patiently, looking over the edge at Manny and the two bodies, as his comrade failed again and again to reach the top of the walls, but getting closer each time. Finally, after many minutes, Manny successfully wall-kicked himself far enough up that Darkmark reached down and grabbed his hand, plucking the blue Yoshi out of the air with ease.

However, his satisfaction was only momentary, for he felt a gauntleted hand come down on his shoulder as he tried to pull his friend up. Sighing again at the constant annoyances, he kicked his right leg up suddenly, connecting the heel of his boot with the human's thigh, then grabbing Manny's other hand and hauling him up and over his head in a suplex-like move that brought Manny's feet down onto the back of the human guard, sending him sprawling on the floor. Darkmark grabbed the guard by his leather armour and threw him over the walls without a second thought, finally turning around to get a good look at the inside of the castle they had just penetrated.

Sure enough, in the centre of it all was a large, foreboding keep, with a small portcullis of its own and a large number of guards surrounding the entrance, most of which did not look so incompetent as the ones they had just disposed of. There was a large tower rising from the centre of the keep, probably about four floors high, with a flat roof on the top of it, and a flag flying that Darkmark couldn't make out from the distance he was at.

Feeling exposed up on the walls, they quickly ducked inside the nearest gatehouse, finding it deserted and moving on to the wooden ladder that extended down through a hole in the floor. Darkmark slid down it into the inner wall section, walking softly along the stone floors and looking through the windows into the courtyard as Manny tagged along behind him…

* * *

_Like a shadow, a good assassin flows over the ground unnoticed…_

Tsi-Lau was finding it all too easy to get inside the castle she had tracked Darkmark and Manny to, having succeeded on her first attempt to wall-kick her way up the outer walls. The spikes on her shoes had made this infinitely easier, giving her an extra moment to push away before she would lose her momentum and fell back down.

_Like a ghost, a good assassin is unseen, unheard, until it is too late…_

She unsheathed her swords the moment she landed on the upper walls, crouching down immediately and scanning the courtyard for any sign of her target, without success.

_Like a cobra, a good assassin strikes fast, hard, and only once… with a bite that kills, either immediately, or eventually…_

Keeping her body low and moving in fast, swift, silent movements, she headed for the closest gatehouse, and jumped down to the next floor, bypassing the ladder entirely and landing hard on the stone floor, her feet slamming down against the ground loudly.

_But an assassin must always be wary, like a deer, for single mistake can cost them their life_, she thought bitterly, as her quarry suddenly stopped.

* * *

"We have a shadow." Darkmark whispered to Manny, stopping in his tracks. "I heard her… she's just behind us."

Without turning around, Darkmark bellowed, "Show yourself!" to Tsi-Lau, his voice ringing off the stone walls and echoing down the corridor. Slowly, he turned to face her, watching her step out from the shadows she had quickly tried to hide in, withdrawing her swords, her hands held firmly around the red hilts.

"You seem intent on coming back to find us again and again. What is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish or are you just stupid?"

"Far from it." She retorted. "This ends here, I'll take you both on and I will not leave until I have painted the walls with your blood."

Darkmark smirked as he pulled out Karlo-Shin's sword from its scabbard. "I knew an assassin once who fought with two swords, and I saw her style many times to learn whatever I will need here to dispose of you. Are you sure you won't reconsider? We could use someone skilled like yourself to dispose of the vampire here in this castle…"

"I work alone." Tsi-Lau spat. "And I will leave this place alone."

"That may be true…" Darkmark began, building up a charge of psionic energy in his hands, "But you will be headed straight for the afterlife."

_"Ka ví tsiya!"_ she shouted. _I shall prevail!_

_"Malaí háy ka!"_ Darkmark cried, flanked by Manny as he rushed forwards. _Victory is mine!_

They met with a clash of steel as Tsi-Lau intercepted their sword swipes with her own, then followed up by swinging them around and attacking them both with upwards slashes. Both Darkmark and Manny dodged them and struck again, their attacks parried swiftly by Tsi-Lau, before she kicked out hard against Manny and knocked him away, allowing her to concentrate on Darkmark and began doing so by sidestepping his vertical slash. She swung with both swords, ringing them off of the shining sword of Karlo-Shin, then moving out of the way of a stab with speed and agility far beyond normal.

Manny came forward again and she kicked out once more, but he swiftly avoided the move and swung just as Darkmark took a swing for her as well. She jumped back out of the way, almost kicking Manny in the face as she backflipped, landing gracefully on the floor and allowing her swords to slip down so that she had firm hold of the yellow tassels on the ends. She stepped forwards to meet her assailants as they charged, swinging the swords around by the tassels and as a result making a broad-arced slice with them, which carried on through a full circle and struck Darkmark's sword as he made an attack, knocking it out of the way. Holding one sword in front of her and using it as a shield, she grabbed hold of the hilt of the other and stabbed at Manny, finally scoring a hit as the blade tasted blood, slicing into the blue Yoshi's arm. He ignored the pain and continued to fight, putting up his own series of rapid attacks that she parried with a single sword until Darkmark, catching on quickly, stabbed forwards and sliced straight through the tassel on her other sword. It went flying back behind her, leaving her with just one, but she immediately placed both hands upon the handle and held it firm, deflecting successive attacks from her adversaries until she made a counterattack and brought up a spike-soled boot to Darkmark's face.

The spikes missed him completely, but the toe smashed into his nose and sent him reeling, sprawled against the wall, dazed and confused. With this momentary advantage, Tsi-Lau made a firm kick against Manny with enough force to crack his ribs, but he moved back at the last minute and she only managed to force him back a small distance. With incredible speed she whipped out a ninja star and held it behind her, between two fingers on her right hand, and prepared to throw it.

"Say goodbye, swordsman…" she taunted, beginning her throw just as she finished.

Spinning around once on the point of her shoe, she whipped the star at him, aiming straight for his heart. Manny, too slowly, raised his arms in desperation, but just before it hit him, Darkmark lunged forwards and caught the star out of midair, landing and rolling on the floor before springing to his feet.

Manny was so astounded at this that he almost didn't see Darkmark throw it back, having placed a psionic charge upon it first. The star buzzed with energy as it flew back through the air, and when Tsi-Lau caught it as well, there was a bright purple flash and she was knocked back against the wall, stunned and paralysed by ripples of psionic energy passing through her.

"How…?" Manny stuttered, "What…?"

Darkmark folded his arms and watched her suffer. "She was using her chi to improve her reflexes… I could tell how she was doing it, and it took just three tries to copy the effect using my psionics… just in time to stop you from dying. She used her chi to help her catch that star, so when the psionic energy discharged into her it interfered, and… as you can see…"

The little bolts of energy jumping across her body were starting to die down, so Darkmark quickly grabbed her and held his sword to her throat, keeping her in a headlock with her body bent forwards in a painful position, through she didn't show how much it hurt.

"I'm… not afraid… of death." She gasped. "I fought well… I did my best… I will die a warrior's death."

Darkmark pulled her head back a little more, forcing a tiny gasp out of her as the pain increased. "I will ask one final time. Will you join us, or will you die?"

"There is honour in death, but only shame in pleading for life."

"_Don't make me kill you_." Darkmark growled.

"Why? Don't you want to? Don't you want to be rid of me?"

"Because I know who you are; you disguised yourself well, but I remember those boots, your fighting style, and that scar on your shoulder… I have no idea how you changed so much, Xenly, but I know it is you…"

She smirked and gave a low chuckle. "I suppose you're wondering…"

"…why you want to kill me?" Darkmark finished, pulling her head back again. "Yes, that had crossed my mind. But more importantly, I was wondering…"

He jammed his knee into her back and pulled hard, making her scream in pain as incredible stress was put upon her backbone.

"**How could you let Shiala die, ****_ki khúrda fáysa_?**" Darkmark roared, adding a vindictive insult onto the end of his question. "How could you just _STAND THERE_ and watch as she died? She thought you were her friend… and _you practically murdered her_! I have come to this place to avenge the death of Alziana, another one who was murdered… for anyone who kills somebody that I love…"

Darkmark yanked her head back sharply with all his strength, and a sickening snap filled the air and echoed off the walls as her neck finally gave, making Manny wince.

"…must _die_." The brown Yoshi finished.

He let her body sag to the ground, allowing an eerie silence to fill the air as both he and Manny watched her for a few moments.

"I hope Klashkna himself makes her burn in the Underworld." Was all Darkmark felt the need to say, before turning and heading down along the corridor.

**To be continued…**


	63. Chapter Sixty Two: All For Nothing?

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 62 - All for nothing?**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Far away in Corvan city, Yasei-Yeiko suddenly snapped out of her trance, coming back to her senses in the private backroom at her nightclub. Her eyes fluttered open and she took deep breaths, collapsing onto the large cushion she had been sitting on cross-legged.

"_Kháríorá_!" she swore, shaking her head in disbelief. "I just lost one of my best students… she was an excellent assassin, but had no experience fighting against a psychic… and now she is dead, just within the walls of my master's castle. Like she said… if she failed, it would be in death."

She shook her head again. "Curses… I thought she could do it. But she's gone now… unless…"

* * *

Continuing swiftly, Darkmark and Manny had travelled along the inner walls until they had the good fortune to stumble upon a trapdoor concealed beneath an ornate rug. Heaving the rug out of the way, Darkmark lifted up the hatch and peered inside, forming a ball of light in his hands to illuminate the darkness below, before jumping down into the passage.

Inside, it was decidedly dank and filthy, with running water down the walls and across the floors spurring the growth of thick clumps of moss, and roughly-cut walls that looked to have been dug out in a hurry. Manny jumped down behind Darkmark and followed him as the brown Yoshi held the light ball above his head, leading them along the straight but progressively narrower passageway.

It seemed merely to be some kind of secret passage, for it led only to another trapdoor in the ceiling with no forks or major change of direction. Only silence filled the air between the two as they travelled along it, until Manny decided to try and break the silence and started, "Marcus…"

"That name does not belong to me!" Darkmark growled. "I am not Marcus. I merely retain his memories."

"Okay… Darkmark…" Manny said quietly, "I just-"

Darkmark suddenly stopped, holding his right hand behind him and inadvertently thrusting the light ball into Manny's chest, knocking him back a step. "Wait! I can sense something… something ethereal, above us…"

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, raising his left hand to his head and placing two fingers on his temple. "A telepathic transmission… feels like chi… I can't catch it, but I know it's there… someone is talking to somebody within this castle, probably Foryo…"

For a few minutes more, Darkmark remained standing there, perfectly still, before he opened his eyes with a sigh and started walking forwards again. "I couldn't pick anything up." He murmured. "And it stopped…"

"Maybe you'll learn how some day?" Manny suggested helpfully. "So far it seems like you've needed practice to be able to do anything with your psionics, perhaps eventually you'll learn to do stuff the first time… I mean, when you were possessed…"

"That was different, but I learned the basics of what to do…" Darkmark mused. "I can only hope I learn more about these powers…"

_Because then it will be so much easier to kill…

* * *

_

Sira slammed the door shut as she came back to her apartment. Ever since she had passed their initiation test- a bit easy, she thought- she had been taking a variety of lessons at the guild here and there, learning basic skills such as stealth and aim. She also had a code-name now, 'Shisaí-khár', which she was told loosely meant 'Invisible Shadow', and had been given a wide selection of weapons to practice with, eventually settling upon quite a devious weapon; a sharpened steel battle fan, with which she had been easily able to slice a melon in two and stop a sword swing from the armourer. She found its lightness handy, as well as the protection it offered when folded out, and had taken such a liking to it that she was taking it home to paint the pleats so that it would be less conspicuous than it currently was.

She had also obtained a marking on her saddlebags, designating her as a first-level assassin, and she had soon learned that she would be given no assassination jobs until she completed her training and became a second-level assassin. She didn't mind; she could use the skills, and it would give her time to plan her moves. It would also delay the necessity of killing anyone she didn't have to, a thought she didn't particularly relish…

Balancing the final year of her magi-medicine course with her newfound training was quite a juggling act for her, but she was managing with the aid of her flatmate, who as yet did not know the true nature of Sira's nightly excursions. She found Samintha playing with Tamaroro in the bedroom, tossing a ball to him and catching it as he clumsily threw it back, and she chatted idly with her as she scoured the room for some paint.

"Are you off again tonight?" Samintha enquired, throwing the ball gently to Tamaroro.

"Yeah…" Sira answered. "I should be back before midnight, but I really don't know…"

"Is it to do with Visali?"

Sira paused, biting her lip nervously. "Yes… in a way."

"Okay… I know it's hard for you."

Sira quietly walked out of the bedroom and went into the kitchen for some privacy. She looked at the mark upon her saddlebags and sighed deeply, removing the fan from her belt, watching the light from the window shine off of it. "Visali…" she muttered softly, "Whatever I do with this… is for you."

* * *

At the end of the tunnel, Manny and Darkmark found another hatch, though there was no ladder to take them up to it and it was just out of their reach. Immediately seeking a destructive solution, Darkmark elbowed Manny out of the way before throwing a bolt of psionic energy up and blasting the trapdoor upwards into the room above them. He then jumped up, grabbed hold of the ledge with his hands and pulled himself into the room, finding it unoccupied, but noting that he was still underground. The tunnel must have taken a downward slope at some point…

With greater difficulty, Manny also managed to get up into the room, looking around once he was standing up. Aside from being underground, they appeared to be in another passage, except that at one end there was a set of stairs, and the other end led to a large, reinforced metal door. Manny was about to head for the stairs, but Darkmark pushed past him and headed for the door, finding it too enticing a challenge to pass up.

Before he could get closer than five feet or so, he felt himself being pushed back by a powerful magical force around the door, but it didn't deter Darkmark much. He pressed onwards, finding it harder and harder to move, reaching out and only just managing to brush the handle of the door with his fingers. Unfortunately, this did nothing, and he was sent flying backwards, landing on his back a good distance away, and he stood up, dusting himself off.

"Fine," Darkmark muttered, "You want to be that way? Then have some of it back…"

He charged some psionic energy around his hands, but as soon as the magical field came into contact the energy changed to magic and discharged painfully into him. Flung back again and gasping for breath, he drew Karlo-Shin's sword and made a rush for the door, thrusting forwards to strike it, but the blade only drew a light scratch in the metal before he was thrown away again.

"Just leave it." Manny said, helping Darkmark to his feet. "It's not worth it… we can come back later."

Casting a final, hateful look at the door, Darkmark turned and led Manny out of the passage and up the stairs, into an entryway. However, unlike most of the castle so far, the entryway was filled with humans, who immediately noticed and didn't waste a moment in attacking them the instant they emerged from the stairway. Expecting a battle, Manny drew his sword, but Darkmark pushed him back into the stairway and proceeded to astound him with a psionic enchantment…

Holding up his hands, Darkmark formed two balls of psionic energy in them before throwing them just as the guards almost reached him. They bounced off the ceiling and accelerated suddenly, shooting off all around the room and smashing into the guards, shocking them with jolts of energy and instilling panic into them. Two jumped out of the ground floor windows and ran off into the courtyard, while others fell to the ground to avoid the projectiles. One of them came back at Darkmark, and when it hit him the energy was absorbed into his body as the other ball continued to bounce around. Taking advantage of the confusion, Darkmark hauled Manny out of the stairway and into the next room, racing up the spiral staircase.

They went up the spiralling flight of stairs before coming out in a large, circular room, immediately barricading the entrance with the furniture inside. Hearing footsteps come up the stairs, Darkmark turned to continue further up the tower. "It must have worn off…" he mused. "Let's keep going. We're almost there!"

Racing off again, they clambered up another two floors, finding almost nothing of interest on their way, except for a few windows revealing how high they were. At last, they reached the top floor, but their path was barred by a large, solid-looking wooden door, which had been locked from the inside and had no keyhole to attempt to pick.

Darkmark kicked the door in indignation, pacing around the circular room as Manny made another barricade. There was a chandelier above them, casting an eerie light about the room, and a dark green carpet upon which Darkmark was leaving footprints as he continued to pace.

Manny watched him as he paced about for several minutes, until he stopped in front of the door and glared at it. "I suppose…" he murmured, "I'll just have to resort to good old stupid brute force…"

Holding his right hand behind him, Manny saw a good deal of energy charge about it before Darkmark swung a straight punch at the door. His fist collided with the hard wood, knocking splinters out of it, but he was hit with a backlash of magical energy and sent flying backwards. Furious, he swung again with his left fist with similar results, roaring angrily as he picked himself back up off the ground a second time.

Manny was about to suggest that he calm down before he conjured up his wings again, then walked right to the back of the room. Bringing a charge of energy onto both of his hands, he aimed for the door and ran as fast as he could, leaping into the air halfway and slamming into the door with incredible force.

Surprisingly, the door shattered open in a veritable mist of green and purple sparks, and Manny ran through to find a large room with shelves of books, a desk with a crystal ball upon it, a pentagram on the floor, a bed, a large window, and many other things. Darkmark was already on his feet again, his wings still spread, cursing and swearing and turning the air blue with a tone to his voice that Manny had never heard before, but it was understandable why…

There was nobody else inside.

**_To be continued…_**


	64. Chapter Sixty Three: The Beginning Or Th...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 63 - The beginning or the end?**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"I don't believe this!" Darkmark screamed, during a break in his stream of expletives. "We came all this way, _all the way from Yoshi's Island_, and he's not here!"

"This is the right place, I'm sure…"

"It has to be. It just has to be!" Darkmark shouted again, his voice reaching a sudden high pitch just like Klashkna's did. "We heard it from the elves; the castle near Sansata. There _aren't_ any other castles for miles around! This has to be it!"

He tried to become silent, but his anger overcame him and he furiously kicked out at the nearest table, breaking it in half and sending everything on top of it flying. "He has to be here. He _has_ to be!"

"Calm down, okay?" Manny urged, stepping forwards and stopping in front of the window, looking out into the distance. It had started to rain, and the sky was getting ever darker. "He can't be far. If there are any stairs here, they'll only lead to the roof, and he's not going to be up there, I imagine. He has to be here somewhere…"

Darkmark walked over to the far end of the room, before putting his hands out on the wall and sighing loudly. "I was so close… so close…"

Manny turned around and took a step forwards. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "Your wings are still there."

"Yeah, I know." Darkmark replied. "I'll dispel them in a moment, but going through that door really took a lot out of me… I can still feel some of the magic prickling at me, stopping me from using my psionics…"

He turned around again as Manny started to talk. "Look, Darkmark, this is the right place… it has to be, right? Like you said, this is the only castle for-"

It happened in a flash. Suddenly, there was a cloud of smoke just behind the blue Yoshi, and a burly arm grabbed Manny around the neck and held him in a choking grip. The smoke cleared to reveal a male human a little taller than Manny, cloaked in dark grey wizard robes and holding a wand in his left hand. His black hair was ragged and his eyes were dark, soulless pits, and curving out over his bottom lip were two sharp fangs, a small part of a cruel, twisted smile…

Darkmark had no time to react. Foryo aimed his wand straight at the brown Yoshi and shouted in a deep voice, "_Nothana Thalutha_!" causing a bolt of black energy to shoot from the tip of the wand and strike Darkmark on the chest. There was a sudden rush of both magic and psionic energy across his body, setting his nerve endings alight and making him fall to the ground, roaring in agony as the energy coursed across his body…

The sight of Darkmark falling to the floor as jolts of purple and green energy surged across his brown and white skin was the last thing that Manny saw. With one adversary eliminated, Foryo took the opportunity and stunned the blue Yoshi with a paralysis spell, before holding him with one hand and sinking his fangs into Manny's neck. Unable to cry out, Manny felt them pierce his skin and some toxin enter his body, spreading quickly to his brain and sending him into a deep, eternal loss of consciousness…

By the time the combined energies had stopped flooding across Darkmark's body, it was too late for him to save his friend. He found that he could no longer feel the mental strain induced by his wings, but that they were still there and he couldn't dispel them at all, as Foryo dropped Manny's body down to the floor while Darkmark got to his knees. He felt oddly cold, and a sudden crushing weight hung on Darkmark's heart at the sight of his friend… his only remaining friend… dead at the hands of the one who had already been the cause of so much of his suffering…

Darkmark leapt to his feet and pulled Karlo-Shin's sword out of its sheath, the pale glow around the blade having become a bright, intense light. Foryo hissed loudly at this and stepped back, but Darkmark ran forwards with a loud cry of rage, taking a wild swing at his target and missing as a result. This gave Foryo enough time to run over and retrieve his own sword from the pile of objects knocked off the table, holding it up quickly to deflect a strike from Darkmark. He made his own counter-slash, cutting only thin air as Darkmark moved out of the way, before retreating from the brown Yoshi's broad cuts with the enchanted weapon. Far enough away to avoid being hurt, he cast the shield spell on himself with a loud cry of "_Olasta Phyisca_!", holding the shimmering semi-spherical shield in front of his body to knock away an attack from Darkmark.

Making a charge with the shield, he pushed Darkmark back into the wall, smirking in a self-satisfied manner until Darkmark swung the sword back through a full circle, cutting through the stone bricks - as though they didn't exist - with his enchanted blade. The tip of the sword only barely missed Foryo's arm, and the wizard stepped back rapidly again as Darkmark freed his arm and made a thrust with the silver weapon, running through an open section of wall at the back of the room.

Realising immediately that it was merely an illusion, Darkmark ran carelessly through the false wall and up a small set of spiral stairs, finding himself on the roof of the tower at the top of them. Foryo was already standing at the far end, waiting for him, ignoring the rain pelting off his robes and wetting his hair down, holding his magical shield ready and his sword in front of him.

"So, you are the one my master told me to kill… such a pity that you somehow survived. He need not know that you lived, for I shall kill you here!"

"Vile human!" Darkmark retorted, "You deserve to die a thousand deaths for what you have done. You murdered over a hundred innocent Yoshies in a single day, and I dare not think what other atrocities you have committed on this world. You filthy humans are a plague upon the lands, and I shall begin the cleansing of our world here today with your destruction… I may not finish it, but it is my destiny, and the destiny of my descendants, to carry on that crusade until every last one of you has been killed! For I am a saviour, a bringer of light to the lands and my people, and in the names of all the gods and saviours I shall kill you this day, lest you cause more pain and suffering to me and my race!"

He ran forwards with a roar of "_Bey nálíarraín!_", _For Vengeance!_, taking another broad slash at the human wizard, but his opponent managed to raise his sword in time to block the attack, making a stab of his own for Darkmark. The tip passed over Darkmark's shoulder harmlessly, and the winged brown Yoshi ducked off to one side as Foryo brought the blade downwards. Coming back again, Darkmark made a broad vertical slash that the wizard blocked on his shield, before swinging his arm around and throwing the shield at Darkmark, knocking him over the edge of the tower. He plunged downwards but managed to spread his wings and soar skywards, flapping his wings furiously to gain altitude, rising back up to the tower roof to find Foryo ready and waiting.

The wizard fired off another spell that Darkmark couldn't hear in the heavy rain, but a blazing jet of red light flew past the side of his head, and as he landed on the stone roof he saw Foryo preparing to cast it again, and he quickly readied a charge of psionic energy upon his hands.

As the red light shot towards him, he swung his arm in a broad, horizontal arc, leaving a trail of psionic energy in the path of his hand, and as the red light struck it both it and the energy dissipated harmlessly, returning to the ether surrounding them. Looking up, Darkmark saw Foryo cast the spell once again, and with a heavy charge of energy in his hands he sidestepped out of the way, before raising his arm and snagging the spell in a web of energy.

For a moment, Darkmark stood there with the purple psionic energy holding the spell still, before he threw both the magic spell and the psionic energy containing it back at the caster. The energy dissipated harmlessly, but the spell struck Foryo's chest with a bright flash, knocking him back a step, but his back pressed up against the flagpole, saving him from the fall.

"You can't kill someone who's already dead!" he cried triumphantly, standing straight again and raising his wand once more, but just as he did so, Darkmark touched two fingers to his temple and increased his reflexes as he had done before, copying the way Tsi-Lau had done it. Foryo swirled the tip in a circle, distorting the air in front of him until a barrage of fireballs shot out from the space, aimed straight for Darkmark. At the same time, the brown Yoshi ran forwards, and used his increased reflexes to move out of the way of the fireballs, or knock them aside with his sword. They became more frequent as he neared, and he leapt up and into the air, coming down at Foryo with the point of the sword aimed for the human's chest, but he ducked away at the last moment and narrowly avoided the Darkmark' blade.

Darkmark cast a quick enchantment mirroring another one he had seen Tsi-Lau perform, back when she was Xenly, and several false images of himself fanned out, surrounding Foryo in a circle. He started to run in circles around the trapped wizard, as did the false images, before suddenly changing his course and running straight for the human. The edge of Karlo-Shin's sword found only the cloak of the dodging wizard as the false Darkmarks vanished, slicing a large shred off of the wool as its owner barely escaped destruction once more.

Quickly, intent on not giving Foryo time to react or cast a spell, Darkmark leapt up into the air and brought his feet down, performing a powerful double kick on the wizard's chest that knocked him back and sent him teetering over the edge of the tower. Attempting to finish what he had started, Darkmark ran forwards and made a leaping slash, landing precariously on the edge of the flat roof as his quarry rolled off to the side. By the time he had turned around, Foryo was casting another spell, but Darkmark had a trick of his own to use…

Just as Foryo cast the spell and sent a bolt of green energy heading for Darkmark, the brown Yoshi held the sword level and threw it with perfect accuracy and incredible speed for the wizard, the blade remaining horizontal as it travelled through the air. The tip pierced Foryo's armour and jammed all the way up to the handle into his body, sticking out through his back, and the blade began to shine brightly as the enchantment took effect. At the same time, the spell collided with Darkmark and sent him reeling, sprawled in a sitting position against the wall to watch what happened next as he felt his strength sap away…

As though he were a lit piece of paper, a bright light began to spread out from the sword, burning through Foryo's body steadily with a bright white flame. He gave an agonising shout as the process continued, consuming all of his form, and his dying yell lingered in the air for a moment after the last of his body burned away, leaving only the sword and his wand hovering in mid-air, before they fell to the roof harmlessly.

Only an unnervingly cold wind remained, and it took all of Darkmark's strength to heave himself up and stagger over to the sword, picking it up and feebly using it to cut Foryo's wand in half. He then fell to his knees, trying to support his weight on the sword as the rain pounded on his skin and lightning flashed in the distance, feeling his consciousness slip away.

"I… I did it…" he gasped, trying to smile. "A-… Alziana… I did it… but it… cost me everything…"

He fell onto his front and whispered, "I hope that… you will… be proud of me…"

His eyelids closed, and he managed to whisper a barely audible question to himself, happy at last that he had avenged all the deaths that had plagued him…

"_Háy mó… tíka ka míyeva…?_"

_Is this… where I die…?_

**To be continued…**


	65. Chapter Sixty Four: The Dark Gods

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 64 - The Dark Gods**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Again, for an indeterminate period of time, Cursed Yoshi will be updated on both Sundays and Wednesdays. I don't know how long this will continue, but it starts today._

When Darkmark awoke, wherever he was definitely was not pleasant and was also not the roof of what had been Foryo's castle. He was lying on his back something very cold, and he suspected for a moment that he was meeting with the gods again until he opened his eyes to complete darkness. Shaking his head to clear it, he sat up and was about to try and cast a light enchantment when a he saw a pair of red eyes staring at him out of the darkness.

"I see you have regained consciousness…" said a voice from the direction of the eyes. It had the same evil, sneering tone that Klashkna's did, only without the sudden rise in pitch at the end of each sentence and without the rolling 's' sounds.

"Do you know where you are?" the voice asked, and Darkmark shook his head. "Wouldn't you care to hazard a guess?"

"The afterlife?" Darkmark suggested, and the voice chuckled.

"No, not quite… I'm sure you would be greeted by angels if that were the case…"

"The Underworld?" Darkmark guessed, prompting a cackle from the voice.

"Yes, yes! You are in Klashkna's lair, but this is a structure within that domain… I doubt you know of such a place, but…"

There was a sudden blaze of blinding light, and Darkmark squinted as his eyes became adjusted to the sudden change in brightness. When they regained focus, he took the shock of his life; he was lying upon a blood-stained sacrificial altar, surrounded by six other Yoshies with blazing red pupils, and the one talking to him was a black-skinned feral with a nasty smile, and Darkmark could feel something coming from him. Upon the walls to his right were sets of shackles fixed to walls splashed with blood, and running along the length of the building were many torches, aided in the lighting by several chandeliers above. All of these were also stained with blood, as was the floor and the large, empty area separating him from a set of double-doors at the far end.

Although the stench of death and blood nauseated Darkmark, he did his best not to show it as the black Yoshi in front of him chuckled again. They all were wearing hooded cloaks, although the Yoshi in front of him had his down, and those behind him stepped back as the black Yoshi began to speak once more.

"Welcome to the one and only remaining Church of Death, dedicated to the Lord of Darkness! We, his followers, used to be many, but the other Octotheists shunned us out of Octotheism and removed all their records… although it would have been too… _human_…" the black Yoshi paused to spit, then continued, "…to kill us outright, they practically exiled us and forced us here, the only place we are safe… though we six are immortal, we are all that remain of what was once a sizable sect of the Yoshian religion… we have only a few other followers out there in the Underworld."

"I can see why." Darkmark muttered, trying to ignore the spine-tingling, disturbing chill he was getting from the bloody altar.

"Listen to me… Klashkna once made you an offer, did he not? Join him, and one day you would become a god, along with his other followers…" the black Yoshi smirked. "_We_ are those other followers, we six, and with you we can hopefully make it a complete seven… with Klashkna, we form a special alliance, that of the eight Dark Gods… the seven others are the Light Gods, and with Sévar it would have been eight… except that he failed in his bid to become a god…"

Darkmark remained silent, not entirely sure what to say as the black Yoshi looked over and examined the mark on his right arm, the pentagram that Klashkna had branded him with. "You carry the Mark of Darkness, I see, so I can only assume you accepted his offer and joined us…"

"I did accept, yes." Darkmark said, finally finding the strength to speak.

The black feral Yoshi smirked again. "Good, good… you would not be the first of my kind to join forces with the darkness…"

Darkmark blinked, realising suddenly what the strange energy was that he could feel coming from the Yoshi. "You're a psychic?"

"Yes, but that's not I was referring to… there is one other psychic behind you. I was referring to the saviours, Darkmark…"

The black Yoshi held open the right side of his cloak, to show Darkmark a complete Octagram pinned to the inside of it, the red gem shining brighter than the rest. "That would be my sword you are carrying, Darkmark, but I will let you keep it… it is no longer of any use to me…"

"Karlo-Shin!"

"Yes, that is my name… after I assassinated the Koopa's leader and returned to my home, I received a vision from Klashkna… he had existed long, long ago, about the time of Eirsir or maybe Karshina… and he was waiting all those years for the perfect time to strike, and take over. When he did, Sévar thwarted him, but he has chosen now to make his next move… and you…" Karlo-Shin said, pointing a finger at Darkmark, "…play an integral role in this plan. He persuaded me to join him, and told me to seal my sword away, as I would not need it any more, though one of his minions might later be able to retrieve it and use it themselves… which has come to pass. I entered the underworld and obtained immortality, and have remained here forever more, waiting for the day when the seal is undone and a new reign begins…"

Karlo-Shin looked down and stared at Darkmark with his glowing red eyes. "You are only here in spirit, Darkmark, as much as it may feel otherwise. If we can bring you here in person, we'll make it worth your while…"

"How so?" Darkmark asked. "What could you offer me to bring me into this fiery pit of despair?"

"An apt description, but nonetheless… Darkmark, the powers you possess are but a fraction of what you can truly do. We psychics are the descendants of Karshina, able to use the powers she could. However, we are all unable to use magic, and as such we were shunned from magic-using societies, and took to the wilderness, using our powers to help us survive in our harsh new homes. Thus began the lineage of the 'wild' feral Yoshies… and the world passed us by, leaving us with the language that is now called Old Yoshi…

"Psionics manipulates the same kind of invisible, ethereal force that magic does, only by different means. Psychics, as you know, first convert ether to a much more volatile and unstable psychic energy, which we are then able to use as we so wish. Psionic spells take no casting time at all for skilled psychics, and even newer ones, such as yourself, need only a small casting time. Intricate hand movements are only required for the most complex psychic spells, or 'psionic enchantments', as they should really be referred to, and can sometimes be even more deadly or powerful than their magical counterpart… true masters of psionics, such as myself, can undergo a transformation of sorts to a more powerful form, which is much more vulnerable to magic, but significantly increases the power of our psionics, and allows us to effectively nullify any magic spells cast in our direction… would you like me to show you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Karlo-Shin closed his eyes and stepped back, holding his arms out to his sides and taking a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, the whites had gone completely black, though the red pupils remained as they had been before. With a roar, Karlo-Shin brought his arms up as psionic energy enveloped him, jumping to and from points all across his skin as little bolts of purple electricity. Some of it sparked off into large purple auras around his hands, and a larger, black aura around his body, and the intensity of the energy washed across Darkmark with the effect of making him feel almost as powerful, and gave him a burning desire to have access to such power, and to use it…

With a grunt, Karlo-Shin dispelled the transformation, and the auras dissipated as the psionic energy returned to ether. Darkmark recalled a similar vision that Sorsoy had shown him, long ago, at the start of his journey…

* * *

_Darkmark stood straight and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the whites were pure, bottomless black, save for the glowing red pupils that came from the inky darkness. He then brought his open hands behind his shoulders, and brought them down again with a roar, holding them level, with the fingers curved up, as though they were holding something._

_A black aura erupted around Darkmark, purple auras of fire burst into existence around each of Darkmark's hands, and what looked like purple electricity flowed from them, up his hands, and across his body. The crackling sound of electricity filled the air as the purple energy continued to spark across Darkmark's body, and he spread a pair of large, leathery wings and began to stride forwards…_

* * *

"Wait a moment." Darkmark muttered. "That's not right…" 

"What is?" Karlo-Shin asked as the brown Yoshi flexed his wings.

"One of the goddesses showed me a vision… in it, I had no wings, but I was able to summon them up like the ones I have… only these, I think, have been fused to my back by one of the spells that Foryo used against me…"

Karlo-Shin gave another chuckle. "Do you know what has happened, then? A vision of the future does not match up with the present. Do you know?"

Darkmark swallowed before answering. "Then the future… has changed?"

"Yes, that's right. Somewhere, something has changed, something that was supposed to happen didn't, or vice versa. The future has been changed, Darkmark, and whatever future the deities were planning on is no longer going to come to pass. Now, tell me… would you like to learn how to do what I just did?"

"Of course!" Darkmark answered, without hesitation.

"Then this is what you must do…" Karlo-Shin started, handing Darkmark a bright, red gem. "You will have this when you wake up… it will allow you to speak to us, at any time, and also allow me to talk to you when I so wish. You must bring it into the Kaftata Mountain Range, in the southwest of the inhabited lands of Chyrus. Keep going into them and you will find the underworld entrance… next to it, you will find an ancient ruin, the psychics' holy temple. The humans…" The brown Yoshi paused to spit in distaste once more. "…destroyed it and burned it to the ground long ago, but it is there within those ruins that we can temporarily bring you here, and it is only here that we can bestow upon you that power I just demonstrated… the power to become one of the strongest psychics ever… a _Neoríasár_ psychic, or just 'Neo' psychic… "

"All I have to do is get to those ruins?"

"That's right… we'll bring you here, give you the power, and send you back… and you can help make the world burn with your wrath, as you wish it to do, no?"

Darkmark nodded, and Karlo-Shin chuckled again. "Good, good… now, it's time you were on your way… it's quite a distance to travel, but I'm sure you'll manage. Until we meet again, fellow saviour…"

He placed a hand upon Darkmark's chest and pushed him back, but instead of hitting the altar, he continued to spin and fall into seemingly infinite darkness…

**To be continued…**


	66. Chapter Sixty Five: The Return Of Darkma...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 65 - The return of Darkmark**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Darkmark regained his consciousness later and expected to find himself back at the castle, but instead found himself staring into the angry eyes of the goddess Laryshka. The entirety of Chaos was swirling behind her, its mind-rendering cacophony resounding across the void, but as Darkmark fell, rather than become frightened, he felt a powerful resolve not to let himself be pushed around any longer.

Laryshka held both of her swords in his direction and glared at him. "We don't know what happened there in the Underworld, for Klashkna has devised ways to stop even Miyala peering into that hole, but we still know your mind and soul were brought there temporarily. Tell me now what happened, lest I have to force the information out of you!"

Darkmark merely glared back, spreading his wings out to their full extent and drawing Karlo-Shin's sword. "Make me." He taunted, adding a venomous tone to his voice.

With a derisive snort, Laryshka touched her sword tips together, sending long cables of white energy towards Darkmark at blinding speed, whereupon they wrapped around him tightly and painfully discharged their energy into him. He resisted it at first, gritting his teeth, but soon noticed that what she was using was not magic, but…

"Ch-… Chi, isn't it?" he gasped, stopping himself from crying out. "Y-You're a Ch-Chi user… I'll n-need the practice…"

Narrowing his eyes at her, he summoned up a large burst of psionic energy from his body, shattering the cables and sending dissipating strands of Chi energy into the vast emptiness of Chaos. Laryshka moved back a little, but Darkmark had not had enough and pulled a large mass of psionic energy to himself, manifesting it on his hands as a pair of balls before throwing them at her, striking with near-perfect aim. The energy surged across her body and she gave a shout, but the energy soon dissipated and left her breathing heavily, keeping her gaze upon Darkmark, who found the sound of Chaos more of a threat to him that her at that moment in time.

"I am not your slave." Darkmark said coldly. "I am not your servant, your errand-runner, or your little pet. I belong only to myself, and it matters not to me what you think I should do, or what you have to say. I am taking my own path from here on out… not controlled by either the gods of light or darkness, but by my own two eyes and my own mind…"

"How do you know of the dark gods?" Laryshka demanded, clearly undeterred.

Darkmark smirked and gave her a self-satisfied look. "I should know of what I have become, should I not…?"

He gave a loud, evil laugh, charging up as much psionic energy as he could while she stared at him in disbelief, before he released the energy in a sudden explosion and brought the meeting to an abrupt end.

* * *

At that exact moment in time, all across the towns, cities, and nations of Chyrus, every remotely gifted oracle immediately felt a vision, some more powerful than others, but all with the same general content; destruction. Demons were running free from the Underworld, burning all in their path; the eight Yoshian gods of darkness leading the devastation, the skies red with fire and the air filled with the screams of the dying. Cracks across the ground broke open, spewing lava upwards, the winds became powerful and the seas treacherous, blood ran down the walls and streets of the cities, the darkness spread across the lands…

Each vision seemed so real that when the oracles awoke from the trance, they immediately ran outside to confirm that the events they had just witnessed were not already occurring, then immediately spread the word of what had happened…

* * *

Finally, Darkmark snapped awake on the roof of Foryo's castle, his hand locked firmly around Karlo-Shin's sword, and the morning turned to night, the rain and lightning all around him fiercer than ever. Standing up with newfound strength, he sheathed his sword and walked calmly back inside, trying not to slip on the rainwater running down the stairs and into a drain at the bottom of the staircase.

As soon as he was fully sheltered, he shook the rain off of himself like a dog, spraying water on the walls, before stepping through the illusionary wall, which was already beginning to dissipate; large holes were starting to appear in the image as the spell's power faded.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Manny's body. It had not moved from where it lay, and he did not expect it to, but the sight of it still upset him a little, and he bent down to him to close Manny's eyes with his fingers. It made him look a lot more peaceful, but it was still unnerving to see the two swollen puncture marks on his neck, partly coated in a black-flecked reddish substance that Darkmark assumed was coagulated blood. Hesitantly, he removed Manny's saddlebags and went through them, taking out everything he thought he might need; money, the compass, bandages, his food and nearly-full water container, and finally the box of throwing knives. After transferring them to his saddlebags, practically filling them up, he put an arm around Manny and tried to lift him up, but found it exceedingly difficult.

"When did you get so heavy?" Darkmark murmured. "Unless I'm getting weak…"

He stood back up and looked around, catching sight of himself in a mirror. His wings were folded closed against his back, but with a start he realised that the once-red membranes were now a light shade of grey, as were his fins and the red eye outlines he once had. With a shock, he realised that the final curse that Foryo had cast upon him must have done this, and that he needed to get it lifted immediately.

He knelt down besides Manny and quickly said a prayer for him, apologising profusely for not being able to bury him. After giving Manny's body his blessing, he crouched on the window ledge for a moment, taking a final look back before leaping out into the rainy night sky, spreading his wings, and heading for Sansata as fast as he could…

* * *

Either instinctively or intentionally, Darkmark headed right for the church he had found himself in when he arrived in the city, bursting through its doors while the storm raged on outside. Only a few candles lit the church, so Darkmark conjured up a light ball successfully on his first attempt as he approached the altar, catching the eyes of the white Yoshi standing behind it.

"Saviour!" he called out as Darkmark approached. Removing his cloak to let it dry, Darkmark nodded in reply and stopped next to the clergyman, using his free hand to give the churchman his blessing in the traditional gesture.

"I have little time… I have been cursed, and I need to have it removed as soon as possible. Can you help?"

The Yoshi immediately took a wand from his saddlebags, and muttered something under his breath, his eyes fixed intently upon Darkmark for a minute or two until he dispelled whatever spell he had cast and nodded solemnly. "I can help, Saviour. Please, take my hand…"

Darkmark clasped the proffered hand and watched as the Yoshi muttered under his breath again, before saddlebagging the wand and placing his free hand on Darkmark's nose. The brown Yoshi felt calm and peaceful for a moment, and closed his eyes momentarily as something flowed across his body… then it stopped, and the Yoshi took a step back, releasing Darkmark's hand.

The odd chill that Darkmark had been feeling vanished, and he felt strong again, but had a distinct feeling that not all was well, given the look on the clergyman's face. The white Yoshi swallowed and said, "It was too long after the curse was lain for me to heal it fully… although all the physical damage is gone, your markings will remain as they are…"

With a wave of the wand, the clergyman called up an ethereal shield, reflecting Darkmark's image in it for the winged Yoshi to see. He stared at it for a while; his reflection looked saddened, so much darker and gloomier with the dark fins, eyes, wing membranes, tongue, and mouth, but he narrowed his eyes at it in disgust and found that he took on a much eviller look that way. The clergyman dissipated the mirror, and with one final blessing Darkmark took his leave, striding back out into the storm with his cloak covering his tightly-folded wings, pressed hard into his back. He went looking for some place to stay the night and wait out the storm, before he could continue his journey… though he had other plans than the ones Karlo-Shin gave him…

**To be continued…**


	67. Chapter Sixty Six: A Creature Of Darknes...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 66 -A creature of darkness**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Darkmark managed to find a half-decent hotel and hired a room, slipping under the covers with a deep sigh just around about midnight. He lay there on his back, as best he could with his wings there, thinking about all that had happened, what he had accomplished, but also what he had lost…

_I'm alone now. He thought sadly. Everyone I ever knew is gone… and so are all my plans. Alziana's dead and I have no Shoreside Village to return to… Shiala's dead, so I can't go to the feral village… Visali's dead, so I can't return to Corvan… and Manny… he was all I had left… the only people I have are the Dark Gods… I have no choice now but to follow them… to join them…_

He sighed and rolled over onto his front to allow space for his wings to spread a little, and fell asleep soon after. That was four hours ago, and in the early hours of the morning, something was tapping against the window of the bedroom…

_Tap tap… tap tap… tap tap tap…_

The noise wasn't loud enough to wake Darkmark, and he continued to sleep, flopped on his front with his arms by his side. There was a momentary pause in the tapping noise, before there was a sudden loud thud that woke Darkmark up with a start, and the brown Yoshi immediately hopped out of bed and looked around curiously. Following the tapping sound to the window, he looked out into the early morning darkness and only saw flashes of something against the window as the tapping continued.

He opened the window to take a look, but as soon as he did so, something whipped past him and into the room. Slamming the window shut, Darkmark turned around and conjured up a ball of light to illuminate the room, as well as what he saw to be a smallish bat fluttering in a circle near an open space. Just as Darkmark took a step towards it, there was a bright flash and a cloud of smoke, and Darkmark made an instinctive grab for Karlo-Shin's sword, unsheathing it and holding it protectively in front of him as the smoke cleared…

"Hello again, Darkmark…"

Standing in front of him was a dark blue Yoshi wearing a dark leather cloak that covered most of his body, with a sheathed sword by his side and two curved fangs protruding from his mouth in an overbite. His fins were dark red, fading into black, and he had his arms folded in front of him as he watched Darkmark intently, before opening his mouth just a little and running a dark red tongue across the protruding fangs…

"Manny! Aren't you…?"

"Dead?" The vampire Yoshi chuckled. "I was, but not for long… I'm dead, and yet, I still live…"

"But how?" Darkmark asked in disbelief.

"Heh heh heh… I'm amazed you haven't already worked it out." The vampire remarked, and Darkmark noticed that his voice had deepened considerably. "When Foryo bit me back in his castle, he injected me with _Volzia_, the toxin of darkness… he never intended to kill me. He made me just like him, a vampire, and after you left me for dead… the toxin spread throughout my unconscious body, and made me what I am now. I'm no longer alive, but I'm not dead, either… I am _un_dead, as close to immortal as I will ever get. I don't know why he chose to inject me… perhaps he thought that he could have another minion, but then you defeated him and his control over me disappeared… so here I am, of my own free will…"

Silence fell, and Darkmark just stared at his old friend, before finally forcing out, "You're… you're a vampire?"

"That's right… you've changed too, Darkmark, but you're still my friend… I hope. Can you accept me for who I am? For what I am? For what I have become?"

"Manny…"

"Can you do that, Darkmark? I accepted you even when you turned evil… even when you wanted to kill me. I accept you even now, even though I can clearly see that you have changed from who you once were. I always accepted you for who you were, because you were my friend… can you return that favour? I do not blame you for what you did… had I had a child with Karin, and then been forced to watch it be murdered and eaten before it hatched, and then see its mother die, I am sure I would have wanted to kill just as much as you did, and still do. I cannot blame you for your feelings, nor the hatred you bear towards the humans and all those who hurt you…"

Darkmark bit his lip uneasily. "How can I trust you?"

"I won't bite you, I promise. Never, for food or for injecting Volzia, will my fangs puncture your skin… because you're my friend, and I don't want to hurt you. I swear this on my honor… I have no life to swear upon any more… and besides, you still have the sword of Karlo-Shin with which you could so easily destroy me like that foolish human. I know you, Darkmark, I know your power and I will never underestimate it…"

After another moment of silence, Darkmark nodded slowly. "Okay, I trust you, Manny…"

He gave a smirk and quipped, "That name does not belong to me…"

"Then what name have you chosen?"

"_Skafria_." Manny hissed, putting such a hateful tone into the word that it reminded Darkmark of Klashkna. "Loosely translated from Ancient Yoshi, it means _Undead Angel_…"

He sighed. "For a moment, Darkmark, before I died, I caught a glimpse of the afterlife… of what lies beyond, of what I missed out on. It was a strange place, filled with Yoshies who lost their lives… and I saw some of the people there we lost… they say you are re-united only with certain people, but I saw others there, ones who I perhaps should not have seen. Karin, Alziana, Shiala, Visali… they were there, waiting for us, and some of them started to fade away as I got closer… but then, the Volzia dragged me back, and spread through me, making me into this…"

He ran his tongue across his fangs again, apparently involuntarily. "I was not the only one that day to have a problem with staying dead… as I left the castle after my undeadening was complete, I ran into that silver assassin, Tsi-Lau. Remember that Foryo was not there when we arrived, and that telepathic transmission you detected? It seems that Yasei-Yeiko knew Tsi-Lau had died, and asked Foryo to inject her to bring her back… he arrived back in that room when we did, and sprung his trap upon me. I didn't fight her… we both knew it was pointless, as neither of us had silver weapons, nor could we wield them even if we had them. She seemed content to tell me that story… and asked me to tell you that she is out there, waiting for you, waiting to repay you for what you've done to her."

Darkmark clenched his fists. "Doesn't anybody know how to die any more? Well, so be it… I still have the sword. If she decides to attack me, she can follow Foryo to wherever he is."

Skafria looked over to the window. "I feel something quite like hunger… I suppose I should go and find someone to feed from… I will return to you in the morning, Darkmark."

Darkmark looked him in the eyes. "Of course… and when you do… we have a score to settle. We've taken care of the queen, and now it's time to crush all the ants, one by one…"

He held Karlo-Shin's sword up in front of his face, watching the blade shine brightly, and taking note of the way Skafria winced when he did so. "We head for Corvan tomorrow. I have just two more deaths to avenge… Shiala's, and my son's. I will settle this score before I head for the ruins… and if I have to, I will kill every assassin in that entire city to do so."

**_To be continued…_**


	68. Chapter Sixty Seven: Out For Blood

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 67 - Out for blood**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

It was barely dawn when Darkmark woke up again, and although he felt rested enough to start on the road back to Corvan, he would rest a little longer once he had arrived in that city. He got up off his front, slipped out of the bed, and donned his saddle, saddlebags, cloak, and boots, pausing a moment to remove Karlo-Shin's sword and hold it in front of him, watching himself in a nearby mirror. The blade was shining brightly, and Darkmark looked over to the window just as Skafria returned, flapping in as a bat before transforming back into a Yoshi, nodding in greeting at Darkmark.

"I see you are ready…" Skafria observed. "I'm fine. It was a bit awkward, I guess, biting someone and drinking their blood… it tastes quite different, I must admit, and I feel somewhat stronger for having done it…"

Darkmark sheathed the sword, looking at Skafria in an odd way, with one of his eyes half-closed, resulting in a very sceptical look. The vampire chuckled at this and remarked, "I love that look, I really do. You always gave me that look whenever I went off on a tangent about something… it'd look much better if you were a human and had eyebrows…"

"Where, exactly?" Darkmark asked, trying to savour the last few moments of rest he'd have before another long journey on foot.

"Above your eyes…" Skafria mused, indicating with his index finger, tracing a path above the top of his head.

"I'm sure I could do that with an illusion spell or something, but…"

"I bet you couldn't." Skafria taunted.

Darkmark gave Skafria a steely glare. "I bet I could."

"Bet you couldn't."

"Bet I could!" Darkmark said firmly, reaching into his saddlebags for some money. It was just like back when he was a kid, he and Manny would get into arguments like this, and invariably an exchange of money would be made…

_Some things never change_. Darkmark thought, taking a few gold coins out from his saddlebags and slamming them down on the nearest table. _No matter how much everything else changes… he couldn't really take to me while he was Manny, but now that he's changed just as much as I have… it's like old times again…_

"All well and good, but you looted my corpse." Skafria said, with a sardonic tone to his voice. "Care to give me back my hard-earned cash?"

"You would've stolen it if you had the chance…" Darkmark murmured, returning Manny's money pouch to him and all the coins inside. The blue Yoshi immediately pulled enough coins out of it to match Darkmark's offer, and bagged the rest.

"Okay then, if you're such a master psychic, whip up a _permanent_ illusion, and make it convincing. You need the practice anyway…"

Darkmark didn't argue with that, looking in the mirror as he thought how to go about this new challenge – simple and harmless, but a challenge nonetheless. And perhaps he could make better illusions if he needed to, so long as he practiced fist…

Remembering his experience with the dragon wings, he decided to forgo attempting to aim the energy at himself and instead allowed it to flow through him, up to his head, before trying to force it out with his mental strength and finding some success on his first try. Watching carefully in the mirror, and trying to expect it to work, he saw the air around the top of his head flicker for a moment with purple energy before the illusion he was envisioning in his mind started to take shape. The result was that two small curves of solid black, more or less the same size, materialised above his eyes with a small crackle and stayed there, though Darkmark could feel the strain induced by the illusion as he pondered his next problem.

"Pretty good for a first try!" Skafria commented, looking closely at the two little black 'eyebrows'. "See if you can make them permanent, though – I can feel the psionic energy coming off you…"

Just like when he turned the energy into fireballs or similar enchantments, Darkmark focused on making the energy take a solid form, and with a wave of his hand the two eyebrows flickered for a moment, shone a little brighter, than went back to the way they looked before. However, Darkmark no longer felt any strain, and Skafria gave a light-hearted round of applause as he handed Darkmark the coins.

"See, you can do anything with those powers of yours, you just need the right incentive… not, by the way, that you needed to give me back that cash…"

He opened up his saddlebags to reveal a veritable wealth of jewels, gemstones, and crystals, sparkling in a myriad of colours in the light. "Remember that door you couldn't get through? After Foryo died, the spell lost its power and I got inside… that place was a gigantic treasure room, I tell you! This was the stuff I could carry back, and I found something else of interest there…"

Reaching under his cloak, he drew his sword from it, only it was not the sword that Skafria used to have; instead, it was a powerful-looking broadsword that looked remarkably like…

"Diamond." Skafria said proudly, tapping the blade with his finger. "Solid, cut diamond. Nothing else is harder than it, and it will never dull unless it takes some serious punishment. You should have seen all the other stuff; there must be a fortune in there!"

Darkmark smirked. "I'm sure nobody will want to go near the place, so we can leave the rest for now. What else were you up to before you came to get me, besides looting and finding that assassin?"

Skafria suddenly took on a far more solemn look. "I… uh… read some of the books that Foryo had, mostly his notes and things… to see what I could learn about myself…

"Apparently, the Volzia he injected me with will turn all of my blood into Volzia as well, for it is that toxin which gives me my near-immortality and keeps me undead. However, I lose some of it all the time, as it gets used up in keeping my soul and mind connected to my body, and protecting my undead body from any non-silver attacks. If you cut me with just silver, I'll bleed Volzia… and if I were ever to lose it all, I would die… so, I must continue to feed on the blood of the living in order to make more Volzia, and keep me the way I am… I can probably last for a month at a time, but after a week or so without food I'll start to get weaker…"

He licked his fangs again, and this seemed to remind him of something. "Aside from my fangs, the undeadening also changed my mouth so that my saliva now contains a potent toxin capable of knocking out a target if injected directly into the bloodstream… so, when I lick my fangs, it applies this toxin onto them. It can also make them forget they were bitten, too. All I have to do is sneak up on someone unsuspecting, and so long as I don't inject them…"

He let his sentence trail off, as Darkmark knew full well what happened next, having seen it done with his own two eyes. "Like I said, I'll never bite you for any reason… but anybody else is fair game, okay?"

"Fine, fine." Darkmark muttered, nodding. "If she's still alive when I'm done with her, you can take a bite out of Yasei-Yeiko as well…"

* * *

Yasei-Yeiko was currently in another trance, finding this state of mind the best to think and plan in. Foryo was dead; she was free from him at last… some of what she had fed to Marcus and his friend was true; she hated him and wanted rid of him, but after she had betrayed them both she would not be able to find them and thank them, or join them in whatever quest they were continuing on. They were heading for Corvan right now, and she wondered if they were coming for her… it didn't matter, as she had plenty of assassins protecting her at any given time, and she could kill them both if she wanted to, she was sure of that… and besides, they would have to get through a veritable wall of people trying to kill them if they wanted to-

A knock at the door interrupted her, and she came out of the trance, eventually calling out to the visitor to open the door and come in. Tsi-Lau stepped in through the door, but with many notable differences; her white fins had become blackish red, she had two long fangs protruding from her mouth, and she clearly did not look happy, folding her arms and glaring at Yasei-Yeiko with a look of utter indignation and hatred.

"Tsi-Lau, it is good to see you back again after-"

"Spare me the pleasantries." Tsi-Lau spat. "I was shamed in battle and died without much of a fight. I did not deserve to be brought back, and I do not deserve to continue to work for the guild. I am leaving you, casting aside my code-names in favour of my real name, Valina Xornia, and I-"

"Silence!" Yasei-Yeiko snapped, and Tsi-Lau's training took over, forcing her to hold her tongue. "Listen to me, you are one of the best students I have ever had, and you only lost because you were fighting a psychic, for which you were not prepared. But now, he cannot hurt you with those powers, only with the sword he carries at his side, and you have the potential to be so much more than you might have been otherwise. You fought admirably up to that point, and tracked him down as instructed… you merely were not prepared for that situation and the odds were not in your favour."

"I still-"

"You will not leave; I command it." Yasei-Yeiko barked, using her authority. "It would be worse for the guild to lose you than it would be for a 'shamed' assassin to stay. Nobody else knows of your defeat except me, and it shall remain that way. You will not leave. I expect you to be training again by tomorrow. For today, you will stay with me when I go to the nightclub, and guard me, as I suspect that there are unwanted visitors approaching…"

* * *

Darkmark and Skafria had barely walked quarter of a mile out of the city before it dawned on the former that it would be much faster – and less tiring – to fly back to Corvan. Skafria turned into a bat and hung from Darkmark's saddlebags while the winged Yoshi took a run-up and leapt into the air, happy to have the wind behind him as he soared upwards.

He was starting to get the hang of it; the angle at which he needed to hold his wings in order to glide, how often he needed to beat his wings to rise up again, the best way to get minimum resistance on the up-stroke and maximum thrust on the down-stroke, how hard and how fast to beat his wings…

He found it oddly peaceful to watch the trees and grassland go by underneath him, at speeds much faster than walking or even running. The wind rushed past him and made his cloak flow out behind him, but aside from the sound it produced it was very quiet and peaceful high up above the ground, and he felt quite relaxed and contented as he went onwards. He was hardly aware of Skafria clinging to his saddlebags, and found that he didn't even need to stop to eat, taking food out of his saddlebags and eating it without any mishaps. Skafria made no reply when Darkmark offered him some, and the brown Yoshi guessed that he no longer needed anything other than peoples' blood any more…

The sun was barely beginning to set, and Darkmark only just starting to tire, when Corvan city came into view, the river running through it shining in the early evening night. Darkmark held his wings firm at a downwards angle, and glided softly towards the ground, passing over the city walls and landing on a flat roof just inside the city, apparently unnoticed. Skafria dislodged himself from Darkmark's saddlebags, following him closely as he jumped down into a side alley, then strode out into the street as though nothing had happened.

This nonchalant behaviour didn't get him very far, though; within a short time, a lone human city guard came up to them with his spear pointed in Darkmark's direction, and after a brief struggle the spear changed hands before finding its point embedded in the neck of the guard, where it stayed, along with the body at the edge of the street.

"What was that all about?" Skafria asked as they continued onwards, but his question was answered as they turned a corner and saw a poster pinned up on a wall, bearing accurate representations of the two Yoshies, which Darkmark tore down to read. The sketchy pictures featured almost everything except for Darkmark's newly acquired eyebrows, making him very suspicious of it…

After a few moments of silence, he sighed and said, "Apparently someone's out for us, and I have a good idea who, since only she could know what we look like now… they're offering a reward to anyone who can bring us to the city guard's barracks, dead or alive, but preferably the former. Looks like we're going to have our work cut out getting to the assassin's guild, and nobody's going to shelter us… they're offering a phenomenal sum of money…"

He crumpled up the poster and threw it over his shoulder. "I'd say that unless you want to sleep on the streets, we'd better go see if they've let Visali's apartment out to anyone else yet. Hopefully not, but I doubt that'll be the case."

"And if it's not empty…" Skafria replied curtly, licking his fangs, "I can vacate it for you."

**_To be continued…_**


	69. Chapter Sixty Eight: The Reunion

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 68 - The Reunion**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Darkmark and Skafria stuck to the back alleys as they went through the city, trying to avoid as many _public_ incidents as possible; they were occasionally accosted by various humans thinking they could get the reward, but soon discovered exactly why they were described as dangerous, wanted criminals. Eventually it grew dark enough that they were able to slip back onto the main roads unnoticed, and stopped in a small bar to rest, and for Darkmark to get something to drink.

They were served by a male Birdo who clearly recognised them, but kept quiet about it and served Darkmark his drink, 'the strongest thing you have'. Taking the glass of transparent, light brown liquid to a free table, he sat with Skafria to drink it and talked idly to him, all to aware of the many sets of eyes watching him.

"So what're your plans, anyway?" Skafria asked, keeping his tongue to Yoshian lest the various burly humans near them listen in. "You've avenged Alziana's death, and you're going to avenge Shiala's, and your kid's… what next?"

"It goes beyond that now." Darkmark replied in kind, taking a sip of the drink. It certainly was powerful, but he felt that he could handle one glass. "There's so much more I have to achieve, it's not just a quest for vengeance any more."

"Do you still think you're the saviour?"

Darkmark gave a low chuckle. "No, no, I'm more than that, too. After settling this personal score, it'll be time to head out on the southerly roads, down to the mountains in the southwest. Something awaits me there…" Darkmark didn't want to give away too many details just yet, but didn't want to keep his friend completely in the dark. "An ancient temple that was once used by the psychics… I feel I could learn much there at those ruins, and it would be wise of me to head in that direction."

"But first, we'd better find either Sira, if she's still alive, or at the very least get into Visali's apartment and take hold of it. I'd quite like to eat some time tonight, if that's at all possible… I'd like it if you joined me, too. I'd enjoy having an extra pair of hands to restrain someone, and also you could help me clear away the evidence that's left behind…"

"Bite marks?" Darkmark asked, draining his glass and slamming it down on the table.

"Exactly." Skafria muttered. "Don't worry, I'll act as a meatshield to stop hits from people lucky enough to ambush us, like that guy right behind you with the bottle…"

Immediately registering what Skafria was saying, Darkmark drew Karlo-Shin's sword in a flash and held it above his head just in time to intercept a downwards swing, smashing the bottle into fragments. Without looking back, he swung the sword backwards and felt minor resistance as the enchanted blade cut into his assailant, and he stood up calmly as there was a low groan and a dull thud behind him.

Alert now, he could sense the next person attacking him from behind and twisted his body quickly, jamming his elbow into the attacker's chest and bringing blood from his mouth. He glared at the others who were watching him, holding either knives or broken bottles, and kept the silver sword drawn just in case.

"Anybody who wishes not to have certain things removed," he shouted in the uneasy silence, "Such as heads or vital organs, had better get out of the way… _now_."

There was a sudden kerfuffle behind him as several people pulled tables and chairs as far back as they could, but Darkmark didn't wait to see whether all was clear before reaching out with his left hand, grabbing the nearest human with lightning pace and throwing him to the floor, putting enough force into the throw to make him bounce off the floorboards. The others rushed both him and Skafria at that moment in time, except for one who ran out the door, and Darkmark easily put paid to one with a swift, deadly slash across his throat. Kicking another away with little effort, he suddenly found himself under attack from the bartender, but merely grabbed him and threw him back over the bar, feeling a moment of mercy and deciding to spare his life despite his foolishness. The next human who attacked him was not so lucky, and took a bite of cold steel between his head and shoulders as Darkmark made a broad horizontal slash.

Skafria's newly acquired diamond sword seemed to be working well, combined with his swordsmanship from when he was alive and the added bonus of not having to worry about being hit. Sparks were struck whenever one of them got a hit in, but no physical damage was done to the vampire as one slash after another sent them reeling, clutching at their wounds if they were lucky enough to live or still have their arms intact. The last few decided that discretion was the better part of valour and ran for the door, escaping into the street just as the sound of heavy footsteps approached them from outside.

"Come!" Darkmark called, beckoning to Skafria. "They must have called the city guard. Let's get out of here before they arrive."

They lost no time in running out the door and away from the thirty or so armed soldiers coming for them from the right. They headed for the nearest alley and followed its twisting paths, as Darkmark kept up a light ball to guide himself and Skafria flew above him as a bat, using ultrasonic waves rather than sight to follow Darkmark and steer clear of obstacles. Before long, they couldn't hear anyone and they stopped to take a breather, with Skafria back as a Yoshi and scanning the darkness for any signs of life.

All seemed still, but there was a sudden sound from Darkmark's left, and he held the light ball out in that direction. A light blue Yoshi was cowering behind a couple of crates, and as soon as it saw that it was being watched, it tried to make a run for it. Darkmark was prepared to let it go, but Skafria pushed past him and caught up easily, making a successful grab for the Yoshi, who confirmed its gender to be female with a high-pitched cry of surprise.

Darkmark could only stand and watch as Skafria fought to get a good hold of her, using one arm to pin hers to her body while he held her head still with the other. He gave a loud hiss and sank his fangs into her neck, prompting her to scream loudly before her pants and pleadings faded away, and she went limp in his arms as he continued to drink, making a faint slurping sound as he did so. This continued for another minute or two before he let her go, and her body fell to the ground silently, unmoving from where it lay.

"She's not dead." Skafria said, answering Darkmark's unasked question. "She'll wake up before too long, so just see if you can heal the bite marks and we can leave…"

Darkmark approached her body cautiously. She looked to be barely as old as he was. "Did you inject her?"

"No, no… I don't _have_ to inject anyone. The only thing that goes into her is the sleeping toxin on my fangs, and that'll make her forget this happened, too… but it won't be any good if she's still sporting two large holes in her neck."

Darkmark took the hint and stopped talking, dispelling the light ball so he could try to heal her. He felt along her soft, smooth skin until he ran his fingers over two swollen puncture wounds; up to that point, he had been enjoying himself, but it was a rather cold and unpleasant feeling to touch the bite. He could feel her warm blood pumping from the bitten artery, and sensing that time was of the essence, he thought back as to how he might heal her…

* * *

_Marcus was so upset at first that he did not even notice the low buzzing sound that had started, nor the fact that the palms of his hands were glowing purple. When he finally did see it, it took him by surprise and he lifted his hands away from her, causing a great shock of purple energy to pass from his hands to her body, jolting it suddenly and making her cry out. Before his very eyes, the colour in her cheeks returned, and she slowly began to rise, sitting up slowly as she tried to clear her head…_

* * *

Darkmark took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing…" he whispered in the darkness.

He put a palm on her chest, and attempted to pass the charge of psionic energy from his hand to her body, unsuccessfully at first. The second time, he managed it, but he could feel with his other hand that the wound hadn't healed, and he put his palm over her neck this time. When he gently sent the psionic charge to her, he concentrated on peaceful thoughts rather than destructive ones, and he could feel the swelling go down as he did so…

Conjuring up the light ball again, he could see that her smooth skin had been restored, showing no signs of what had happened to it. Her breaths were low but becoming more even, and as Skafria turned to leave, Darkmark put his hand first on his chest, then on hers.

"I'm sorry, but you will live…" he whispered, before standing up to follow Skafria.

Luckily for him, the spot where his head had only just been was suddenly sliced through by something, and he heard a clang of steel against the wall behind him. Whipping around and holding up the light ball, he saw a steel-plated fan embedded in the bricks, and he pulled it out with little effort, turning around again to see who had thrown it.

"You dropped something…" he said gruffly, holding up the fan to the Yoshi-shaped shadow. "I can see you there. Come out and I won't have to kill you. Don't think that I won't just because you're a Yoshi…"

After a moment's hesitation, the shadow made a distinct nodding motion, and Darkmark folded up the fan. "Tell me, assassin, what's your name?"

"Shisaí-khár." She answered.

"_Invisible Shadow_? You're clearly not invisible, at least not to me. Your real name, please. And don't dawdle, I don't have time for games."

She sighed. "Sira Stialla. What difference-"

"My, you have gone downhill, haven't you? It's been a while, Sira…"

**_To be continued…_**


	70. Chapter Sixty Nine: Darkness to the ligh...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 69 - Darkness to the light**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"First thing's first." Darkmark said firmly. "You won't try and cash us in to the city guards. If you do, once they're dead, you'll follow immediately thereafter."

"I'm not human." Sira spat. "Nor am I stupid enough to even think about trying to fight someone like you, even if you were alone."

It was long after dark, and both Samintha and Tamaroro had gone to bed long before. They were trying to keep their voices down in the darkness, with only a candle to light them, as they talked in the main room of Sira's flat.

"So much the better. We'll be straight with you if you'll do the same for us. We've come back here to kill Yasei-Yeiko."

"Join the club." Sira muttered. "That's why I joined the assassin's guild."

"You'll have to fight us for her in that case. She killed Shiala and my unborn son."

"She killed Visali and Dave! I have just as much right to kill her as you do. Not to mention she killed Tammy's parents, too…"

"Please, be sensible." Skafria interrupted. "We won't have time to argue who gets to kill her when the time comes. Just try and slaughter her, and whoever's luckiest will get the winning hit in."

"Good enough for me." said Darkmark. "I'm sure she won't be alone. At the very least we'll have that damned Tsi-Lau to get rid of first, but she's probably got more guards than that with her wherever she is."

"The nightclub." Skafria suggested in tandem with Sira. The latter continued, "It's just a front for the guild. She has a private backroom there, and there's a rear entrance to the main part of the guild along with a way in through the nightclub itself. I'd try her backroom if I were you, since you're going there at night."

"Tomorrow, though." Darkmark immediately cut in. "I'm too tired right now, and besides, the city guards are absolutely crawling through the city like rats. I never knew there were so many humans enlisted in the military here."

"They got a bunch more after you pulled off that spectacle of blasting out of the prison. I assume that was you…"

"Of course." Darkmark said, nodding, then suddenly had a thought. "By the way… do you ever know what happened to everyone who died there?"

"They just left it as it was for the most part, trying to clear the rubble away. They were too busy rebuilding the city walls. The bodies were just left there to rot as far as I know…"

In a sudden roar of fury, Darkmark clenched his fists and slammed them into the sofa he was resting on. "Those worthless-… I can't believe they'd-!"

He was barely able to form a sentence through his rage, but stopped suddenly and turned to Skafria, clutching at his arm. "Wait! If Shiala was-"

"It's too late." Skafria told him, shaking his head. "Aside from the fact that she'll have probably started to decay by now, she'd be too far gone anyway for the Volzia to bring her back… she'd just be a zombie if I tried, and probably die again soon thereafter without a soul or mind. I'd have had to inject her before the decomposition starts…"

Darkmark gritted his teeth, but sighed and sat back after a moment. _I figured as much… I'll never have her back, and besides, I don't think I could bear to have her as a vampire…_

"Inject her with what?" Sira asked, and Skafria opened his mouth a little, baring his fangs and hissing at her. She started, but calmed down quickly and was breathing normally in almost no time. Apparently she'd already learned one or two things from the assassin's guild…

* * *

"Be still, be peaceful… clear your mind of thoughts, allow the chi to flow through your body, let it take over, let it become one with your soul…"

Tsi-Lau did as instructed, standing calmly in the large, empty training room. It was only her and her sensei in there, late at night, as she took the final test to prove her mastery of all the assassin's teachings, and show that she was a true Templar; a powerful, expert chi user, the very best she could possibly be…

"You are aware that if you fail, you will be destroyed immediately." Her sensei reminded her. "Even with your vampiric protection, the magical force holding you together will not withstand the kind of punishment it will take if this fails…"

"I know." Tsi-Lau replied flatly.

She kept her eyes closed, feeling the flow of chi through her, then keeping it within her, stopping it escaping, then letting it manifest itself around her body, swirling just above the surface of her skin…

Somewhere in front of her, she heard a buzzing sound, and kept her hold on the chi. Yasei-Yeiko held her special blade ready, giving her student just a few more seconds before she would give her the test that could determine the fate of the rest of her life…

Stepping forwards, the purple anthro Yoshi came closer, closer, until she was almost directly in front of Tsi-Lau, who had by this time risen a little off the ground by the force of the chi that had formed a bubble around her, matching the shape of her body as she remained in the air, arched back a little as though she were leaning backwards. Holding the sword high, she waited once again, before swinging directly through Tsi-Lau's body with a sweep of the blade.

As soon as the metal cut through the bubble of chi, both it and Tsi-Lau burst apart and dissipated into nothingness, leaving only the head assassin standing firm, waiting as she watched the space in front of her. A minute passed, then two, and eventually five, whereupon little flecks of white energy started to reappear in the air, appearing faster and faster until they formed the Tsi-Lau shaped bubble, and with a flash the energy vanished, allowing the silver assassin to fall to the floor and land gently, bending her knees as she landed to soften the impact.

She opened her eyes and looked up, before rising to her feet and staring her sensei in the eyes, then bowing once. Yasei-Yeiko gave a small smile at the corner of her mouth, before casting the blade aside, putting one hand on Tsi-Lau's shoulder to find it solid.

"Congratulations, you have passed." She said happily. "You are now both a ninth-level assassin and a Templar, a master of chi. Should the unthinkable happen to me, you are now in line to take over the guild in my place, and all but I shall speak up to you from here on."

Tsi-Lau nodded once. "Thank you, sensei."

"I have never had an undead Templar among my ranks, and I doubt it has ever happened before. I would like to see your potential, and what you can manage with these combined powers of yours. I shall watch you as you take your path, and even if my body perishes, I shall forever keep my eyes on you…"

* * *

It seemed like the right time. Sira had gone into her bedroom, and Skafria had turned into a bat, before flying up to the curtain rail over the window and hanging from it. He was probably asleep now, and Darkmark waited just another few moments, lying on his back with his wings carefully folded up beneath him. Gingerly, he reached into his saddlebags and took out the red gem Karlo-Shin had given him, and after listening intently for a minute or two for any signs of life, he touched it to his nose and felt it grow hot in his hands…

The scene around him disappeared in a flash, and he found himself tumbling in spirit through Chaos for only a moment before appearing upon the altar within the Church of Death. It was as he had seen it before, only a little hazier this time, perhaps because of the gem, but he could still make out the six in front of him, with their hoods taken down, perhaps expecting his visit…

Furthest to the left was Karlo-Shin, smiling to himself and watching Darkmark intently with his shining red eyes. Next to him was a female Yoshi, bearing a large set of wings just like the ones Darkmark had had when he had eaten the blue Koopa shell. Her skin was a shade of dark blue that was even darker than Manny's, and she had a set of short eyelashes over the blazing red lights of her eyes. Beside her was a male Yoshi with dark green skin, but his cloak was raised just enough for Darkmark to see a charred stump of a wing fixed to his back, and assumed there was one on the other side as well. The fourth one was a feral with dark orange skin, in strange contrast to his light orange chest, and the fifth was a teal, anthro female, her head partly covered by her rough, tousled grey hair. The sixth one, from what Darkmark could see, looked like a half-lizard, half-Yoshi; he had a set of wings quite like Darkmark's, only they appeared to be thinner and bonier than his, and he had claws on the tips of his fingers, as well as scales covering parts of his body…

As if to explain, Karlo-Shin spoke up. "The dark gods have a different sort of balance than the light gods do… whereas they tried to show different strengths and beliefs, we show the unity of the different types of Yoshies, not all of which still live on today…"

Indicating each of them in turn, starting with himself, he carried on, "The saviours, the winged ones, the fallen angels, the ferals, the anthros, and the dragon Yoshies… Klashkna is one of the 'normal' Yoshies, and you… you are the first in another breed, the Cursed Yoshies…"

Darkmark didn't know what to say, and remained silent as Karlo-Shin chuckled again and continued. "More damage than you think has been done by what Foryo did to you in his castle. It may not be apparent by looking at you, but deeper scarring has been made than your wings and disfigurations…"

Holding out a hand to the space on his right, he cast an illusion similar to the one Darkmark had done, making an image of a Yoshi-like creature come into focus. It was quite disconcerting; its skin was extremely dark grey, similar to Karlo-Shin's, but unlike it should have done, the skin looked lighter where it should have been dark, and darker where it should have been light. It had claws on its fingers, and larger, steelier talons on its feet than was normal, and it had an overbite produced by enlarged canine teeth different from the fangs that Skafria bore. It had eyebrows just like Darkmark did, but the eyes themselves were bright white with grey outlines, and dark grey eye whites to go with them. Although it was but an unmoving illusion, those eyes seemed to stare into Darkmark's very soul, and a chilling thought crossed his mind. _Is that-…?_

Karlo-Shin abruptly dispelled the illusion and chuckled again. "When the time comes, it is we eight dark gods who shall unite all the different races of Yoshies and crush all opposition. When the seal on the underworld is undone, we shall escape, and though it will be a bloody, death-ridden day, we shall emerge victorious… it is only we who can truly unite all our brethren, or what remains of them by that point… already the dragon Yoshies have been wiped out, and the anthros are almost gone. The winged ones have been forced into the mountains and are also nearly dead, and the humans are working on the ferals… before any more are lost, we must unite and push back harder, and fulfil the legend in our own little way…"

He smirked, and gave yet another chuckle, something he seemed to have gotten into the habit of doing. "They call us the dark gods… but only we can bring the light to the lands that we so desperately need. The light gods are too weak now that the Sword of Eirsir is shattered, but seven of the eight dark ones have other power, and with it, we shall rule. We are not gods yet… but… well, do you not feel it, Darkmark? Do you not feel it within you… the feeling… of _destiny_…"

"Yes…" Darkmark answered, speaking at last. "I feel it… that I can do great things… that I _will_ do great things…"

The others joined in and matched him as though they were reciting a mantra. "That I can shape the future, and save the Yoshies… that I can take great matters into my own hands and control them… that I can control chaos itself… that I can become a master of all time and space… that I… am a god…"

"You see…" Karlo-Shin said, "We all share this same vision… and we shall make it happen one day. And until that day, we can wait here in the underworld, where nobody dies and 'death' is only temporary… we can wait until the day we escape, and make our collective dreams come true."

Darkmark gave an evil smile, showing his teeth as he did so, and Karlo-Shin did the same. "You're not a dark god yet, however…" the black Yoshi warned. "When you come here from the psychic's temple, you will become one of us, and look like we do when you leave… after that, all we need to do is wait until the day of reckoning…"

Darkmark nodded. "The day the seal is undone… we need to wait for Sévar…"

**To be continued…**


	71. Chapter Seventy: Dust To Dust

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 70 - Dust to dust**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: CY is returning to the usual Sunday-only update, for now at least._

In the morning, Darkmark didn't breathe a word of his clandestine meeting with the dark gods to Skafria, instead sitting in silence by the table as he ate the breakfast Sira had offered him. Again, Skafria had declined to take any of the fruits on offer, instead wandering around the flat as Darkmark ate his fill and Sira savoured what she took.

"What are you two going to do today before we go to the nightclub?" she asked, picking up a pear from the fruit bowl.

"I think I'm going to go check the prison…" Darkmark murmured. "If Shiala's body is still there, I'm probably going to bury it…"

"Then what?"

Darkmark was about to answer, but Skafria showed up at that moment and slammed a large rectangular box down on the table, smirking at his companion. The brown Yoshi took one look at the picture on the front of the box, looked up at his friend, and said aloud, "I guess I'll be back here whipping your tail at this until we have to go…"

* * *

However, true to his promise, Darkmark left the flat soon after to go check the prison. Skafria had declined to come, so Darkmark was left to walk on his own through the grim streets of the University district. Eyes all around him would stare before suddenly averting, people would clear out of the way despite him being a good ten feet back, and the solitary city guards he passed would suddenly snap to attention and look off in another direction, acting as if they had seen nothing. 

He felt mixed feelings from this – one was that he felt powerful, knowing he was feared, but he also felt a little outcast, remembering how much he liked to walk around the Shoreside Village on sunny afternoons with Alziana and talk to everyone he met. He knew he could never go back now, and kept a menacing appearance, frowning deeply and keeping his wings raised slightly to look just that little bit bigger.

Eventually he got to the point where the numbers of city guardsmen began to become denser, and they started to nudge each other and point him out, weighing up their odds. It wasn't before he passed a group of six, crossing over a bridge spanning the river running through the city, that they decided to push their luck for the last time.

Within seconds of them bearing down on him, one was already sent flying into the clear canal waters, and the others were regretting their advance. Darkmark whipped out his flail and struck one of the guards with it on the side of the head; though his helmet saved his life, the force behind it sent him tumbling over the bridge and into the river with his comrade. The third nearly got a lucky hit in, only barely missing Darkmark's arm with his spear, but the winged Yoshi grabbed the spear and twisted it around, forcing the human to let go and allowing Darkmark to discard the weapon into the waters below. Sidestepping an attack, he brought his psionics into play and threw a fireball at the nearest one, igniting the cloth beneath his leather armour and sending him voluntarily into the water as he attempted to douse the flames. Something brushed past his wings, and he fanned them out suddenly, smacking the guard behind him in the face and distracting him long enough for a flail swipe to knock him away. With a sweep of his foot he tripped the guard and plunged him into the drink, and was left only with a single cowering guard, edging slowly away.

Building up a good charge on his right hand, Darkmark made a broad throwing motion and sent a cable of psionic energy towards the human, which latched onto his arm like a rope as he turned and attempted to flee. There was a loud jolt of the energy as he tried to pull away, and Darkmark yanked the psionic cable back, reeling the guard in and allowing him to pitch him over the edge with a spinning throw.

The cable disconnected from the human when he tried to dispel it, and the energy flowed back into his hand, where he allowed it to disperse back into the ether. Wanting to conserve his strength for the night, he ran the rest of the length of the bridge and leapt into the air, fervently flapping his wings until he was a good height above the roofs of the highest buildings. It was easy at that altitude to see the prison, a mass of bricks, dust, and rubble, and headed in that direction, feeling a sudden weight in his throat as he approached…

His worst fears were confirmed when he touched down. It was as though it was the very same day he had become what he was; not a single body had been touched, nor any of the bricks and stones been moved. There was a veritable cloud of flies circling the area, and the stench was horrible, though very little compared to the inside of the Church of Death. Even the broken maroon-spotted Yoshi eggshell fragments remained, the yellow albumen coating them having crusted into a flaky substance, and the pieces of chain links scattered about. Rain had washed the blood from the sands, but not from the bodies scattered about…

Before getting closer, he searched his saddlebags for the bandages he had picked up some time ago in Sansata, and wrapped the woollen strips of cloth around his nose and mouth to protect him from either the flies or whatever else was in the air. Slowly, he stepped through the gap in the perimeter wall, and entered the courtyard itself, slowly approaching the bright red body…

It had started to decay, and Darkmark tried as hard as he could not to properly look at the body, and remember whose it was. He couldn't bear to look at her, but he forced himself to turn her over, wincing at the sight of the gaping hole in her chest, but he managed to stop himself from crying while he breathed the prayer of passing for her under his breath, saying it not just for her but for his murdered son as well.

Standing up solemnly, he knew he couldn't bring himself to bury her, but he didn't want to leave her body to rot, either. Quietly, without any show of emotion, he slowly waved his hand over her body, dispelling psionic energy into the enchantment he was casting, and watched silently as her body crumbled away into dust and blew away on the winds, leaving nothing to show it had ever been there.

_Tonight, I shall repay what has been done to you… to me… to us… and then I will do whatever it takes to make sure this never happens again… to anyone…_

He sighed and spoke into the air his recurring regret, "I wish I had had the chance to say goodbye…"

He turned around, almost already cleared of what little emotion he had shown. "But it's too late for regrets, and I cannot stay in the past… the future awaits, and I must be prepared for it…"

* * *

Sira kept running over her plans in her head as she came back from the University. It had been a long day, and she wondered whether leaving Tamaroro with Skafria was such a good idea, but had a feeling that if any harm had come to the little baby that Darkmark would surely be the first to inflict his retribution upon the vampire. Besides, he was still a Yoshi, and he surely wouldn't hurt a child of his own kind… 

She then remembered Yasei-Yeiko, and bitterly reminded herself that even her race had some bad people within it, but took happiness in the fact that she knew she would help bring about that anthro's death very soon…

Arriving back at the flat, she found Samintha, who had been able to leave early, holding a snoozing Tamaroro in her arms as her two guests sat either side of a table, playing the game of Visali's they had found earlier, in stern silence. Samintha nodded in greeting and spoke in a hushed tone, "They've been at it since before I came back. I've never seen such concentration…"

"Yeah, well," Skafria interjected, "We haven't played for at least a month, and I'm the current champion…"

"Only because your definition of 'champion' is whoever won the last game." Darkmark quipped, reaching out to move one of the markers laid out on the vaell map. "Needless to say, you changed your tune when I started winning this one…"

"You've not won _yet_." Skafria retorted, handing Darkmark the dice. "I may have lost my commander early on, but you're pretty outnumbered…"

"I never figured out how to play that." Sira said vaguely as she sorted out the notes she had taken earlier, as well as the small bits of information on 'chi' she had been able to scour from the library. "I always seemed to forget something, and before I knew it my army would get wiped out, but then again Visali and Dave played it all the time… just like you're doing now, they'd sit there for _hours_ and-"

A loud knock at the door silenced her, but as she went to open it, something told her that caution was needed and she put the chain on the door before opening it. That move saved her life, as no sooner had the door been opened than a katana was thrust through the gap, and whoever was on the other side slammed into the door. Immediately Darkmark stood up and came forwards with psionic energy buzzing at his fingertips, patiently watching as whoever was on the other side sliced up with the katana, through the chain, and threw the door open.

Darkmark didn't even need to look to know that it was an assassin, and when the scantily-clad female human darted towards him at blinding speed, he raised a shield and deflected her sword strike with relative ease before throwing a bolt of raw energy towards her. It smashed straight through the chi shield she raised and struck her full in the chest, knocking her back and branding a large burn into her skin. Before she had time to even get up off the floor, Skafria dove down upon her and bit her twice, not stopping to drink as he let her sag down to the floor.

"I don't know whether to be happy she's gone down, or insulted that they sent someone so weak." Darkmark mused, as Skafria started to drag the body down the corridor and out of the building.

"I don't think it'll be easy to get to Yasei-Yeiko…" Sira added, "But we'd better go tonight, or they may send someone more competent next time…"

**To be continued…**


	72. Chapter Seventy One: It Begins

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 71 -It begins**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

By the time Skafria finally conceded defeat to Darkmark and packed away the game, the sun had set and the town was blanketed in darkness, penetrated only by the torches of the patrolling city watch out in force. Tamaroro was snoozing away in Samintha's lap as she read a book, and the other three took their opportunity and left quietly without many excuses or explanations.

Trying to avoid trouble before they got to their destination, Darkmark and Skafria chose to fly under the starless sky as Sira made her own way through the streets, acting as inconspicuously as she could while the city guards were nearby. For the flyers, it was all too easy to find the large building the club was housed in, but the simplicity that had endured so far was shattered almost as soon as they landed and stepped out from the alley they touched down in.

In front of the main door were two female Yoshies dressed like the waiters inside, acting as the guards who made sure all was well outside, and upon catching sight of the two wanted 'criminals', the blue-green one drew a sword and the dark purple one took out a pair of daggers.

"Assassins." Darkmark whispered to Skafria, before he was set upon by the one with the daggers. In a reflex action he pulled out his flail and used the handle to block one attack while moving his body to dodge the other, pushing back and trying to force the blade from her hand. Her grip was strong, though, and he barely evaded a sideways swipe before she freed her other dagger and thrust forward, the edge biting into Darkmark's shoulder as he tried to duck to the side. He could feel the trickle of blood as he swung upwards and missed, but put it out of his mind as he twisted his body away from her next stab and managed to block a punch aimed for his head. Stepping back, he took an opportunity to swing his flail in a broad arc and aimed for her head, but she leaned back out of the way and came for him with both knives swinging, slicing a light gash into his other arm while he tried to dodge the second blade. While she was open to attack he leapt up and swung his flail vertically, producing a loud _crack_ as the balls connected with the underside of her nose, before bringing it down on top of her while she was stunned, delivering a fatal blow to the back of her head.

Meanwhile, the blue-green Yoshi had managed to hit Skafria straight off but found her attack completely ineffective, striking sparks against his chest. Skafria withdrew his sword before the next attack came and parried it skilfully, swinging in a vertical arc and forcing her to sidestep, stabbing him ineffectively in the chest as he brought his sword up. His swipe slashed through the veils covering her body, and as she evaded a left-handed grab she started to shed them, but ignored this and caught a subsequent attack on her sword. He pushed forward and slid his sword along her blade until the point found itself in her chest, and she fell to the ground clutching at the wound, gasping for breath.

This brief skirmish had attracted a small crowd, and Darkmark glared at them as he turned around, flexing his wings haughtily. "Get away from here if you know what's good for you." He growled, and held up his flail to make a point.

It seemed that the onlookers did indeed know what was good for them, and as they dispersed Sira managed to force her way through and come up to them, taking note of the bodies. "I can't leave you alone for more than ten minutes without killing anyone, can I?"

Darkmark shook his head while Skafria started to check the body of the assassin he had just defeated. "We needed the warm-up anyway. This is your last chance to turn back, you know…"

"No way, and besides, you need me." She replied, gesturing to the wounds on Darkmark. "Want me to heal those or can you do it yourself?"

"You do it first." Darkmark muttered. "Then let me try…"

She nodded and took out her battle fan, which with its new coat of paint looked quite inconspicuous compared to what it had done before. Keeping it folded, she tapped the cut on his shoulder with the now cream-coloured fan, muttering "_Oralia Totalia_" under her breath. Darkmark paid careful attention as he felt the magic work on him, and he wiped away the blood over the closed wound before moving onto the other one, holding his hand above it.

It was surprisingly easy, given that he had just seen it done, and there was a very faint purple haze between the pentagram at the tips of his fingers and the gash for a moment, before it healed without a trace and he wiped the blood off his skin. Turning around, he sighed as Skafria took his fangs out of the blue-green Yoshi and licked them clean, stepping back up to Darkmark and Sira with a nonchalant look on his face.

"Must you do that?"

"Do what?" Skafria asked innocently, and Darkmark sighed again.

"Never mind… Sira, how many ways in are there?"

"At least two… aside from the side door inside the club, I think there's a way in through the guild that I can take."

"Then take it." Darkmark said firmly. "You don't want to be here if – I mean, when – I have to start killing people, or you might get in the way."

"Suit yourself." She murmured, heading off in another direction.

Skafria started towards the door, but Darkmark grabbed him by the shoulder and made him stop. "Much as I would dearly love to go in there and slaughter everyone, it may be better for us to try and not be recognised so easily."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

Darkmark gave him a hard stare, then raised one of his eyebrows at him for effect, and Skafria got the message; an illusion. The vampire opened his mouth to expose his fangs, and with a wave of Darkmark's hand they started to fade out before showing a transparency of sorts, though it was possible to see on close inspection that _something_ was there, just not exactly what. Darkmark then did the same to his wings, folding them up tightly under his cloak, and pulled the leather over the mark of darkness on his arm instead of attempting to cover it over, too.

"Let's go." He said finally. "And try not to lick your fangs, no matter how tasty someone may look."

Almost too easily, they went into the nightclub unnoticed at first. A few people thought they recognised him, but also noticed he appeared to have no wings and so went back to their various drinks. Skafira pointed over Darkmark's shoulder at one of the doors, the only one guarded by the veiled waitresses patrolling the floor, and they slowly made their way towards it…

"Whoa, whoa, wait a moment." Skafria uttered, grabbing Darkmark just before they got to the door. "Isn't that her, up there?"

He cocked his head towards the stage; atop it were a few dancers dressed like those serving the drinks, and right at the front was Yasei-Yeiko in her many silk veils, though her wide, graceful movements often sent them up enough to show her black leather leotard underneath. She was accompanied by some rather interesting music provided by a small band just in front of the stage, and after watching her for a few moments, Darkmark shook his head. "It's an illusion."

"Hm…?" Skafria murmured absently, transfixed upon her.

"You never change, do you? Now isn't the time to be admiring girls."

"I just remember stuff… she tasted good…"

Darkmark gave him a dark look as he licked his lips. "I thought you told me that you didn't give in to her."

"I didn't." He replied abruptly. "I mean, I did, but… I didn't, you know, mate with her, she just kissed me, that's all. But… uh…" Realising he kept digging himself deeper into a hole, he tried harder to get to the point. "And I fainted or something. And sure, she got me to tell you where you were, but not because I fell for her, but because I thought she was going to go help you. I mean, she didn't even offer, I just-"

"Enough already. We came here to do something and we're damn well going to do it, okay?"

Skafria muttered an expletive under his breath at the brown Yoshi as he was pulled onwards, and though Darkmark heard it he ignored the childish remark as they approached the guarded door, catching the attention of the two alert female Birdos outside of it.

"No visitors." One of them said. "The manageress is busy."

"What with?" Darkmark asked briskly.

"She's attending to something, if you must know…"

"So that's not her up on the stage?"

Catching herself, the red Birdo's gaze shot over to the image of Yasei-Yeiko, but the curse word she was about to utter as she realised her mistake never made it out of her tube-like mouth. Darkmark's hand shot forwards and the base of his palm connected with the side of her face, snapping her neck as her head was jerked to one side, and she fell to the floor with a gurgle. The other one, a tint of green, whipped out a dagger and threw it before Darkmark could react, but Skafria thrust a hand into its path and the blade bounced off of his _Volzia_-shielded skin. Darkmark had his flail out by the time she recovered, but his swift swing for the underside of her nose was blocked by another dagger she held in her other hand.

Skafria grabbed her and held her arms back despite her struggling, though she spat a fireball at Darkmark in her fury and he was forced to dive down to avoid being burnt. When Skafria let go of her with one hand to cover her mouth, she broke free of his grip and jumped forwards, kicking Darkmark hard in the nose with her talon-ended feet and carving four large gashes into his flesh. Before she could attack the sprawling Yoshi again, however, she found the end of Skafria's diamond sword sticking out through her belly, and she collapsed with a groan.

"You okay?" Skafria asked, hauling Darkmark off the floor.

"I think I can heal it. She was just lucky."

"We'd better move quickly." He said, as he spotted two humans heading for them. "They've got backup, it seems."

Still fresh in his memory, Darkmark pulled off the healing spell with little difficulty, though a vague tingling pain remained, fading away as they barged through the door and slammed it shut, pulling the heavy wooden bar down to block it. They were now in the small corridor, only barely lit by the candles running along the walls, and started to head down it towards the large double-doors at the end…

Before they got that far, a door next to them was flung open and Skafria found a whip wrapped around his neck, and was pulled backwards into another room. Darkmark immediately turned around and followed him to find Maria and Gemma inside, the former trying unsuccessfully to choke Manny with the whip wrapped around his neck, and the latter preparing to attack Darkmark, her arm back, ready to lash him at a moment's notice…

* * *

"Hold it." The grey Yoshi muttered, barring Sira's path. "Are you authorised to go through here?"

Sira had been looking over her shoulder all the way along the hall, and was pretty sure she was alone with this guard. "Yes, let me through."

"Show me your weapon, then."

Sira took out her fan and held it up, slowly and deliberately unfolding it to the full extent, holding it firm in her hands. "What're you talking about, you're only-"

With a swift slash, she lowered the fan and cut through the guard's neck, then jabbed the sharpened pleats into his chest and sent him sprawling to the floor, choking as he expired. She felt a sudden cold feeling as though someone had thrown cold water over her, but took a deep breath and calmed herself down as she had been taught.

_I did not want to have to kill anyone tonight other than -her-, but it just came so easily to me… what have I become?_

She shook her head and went through the door, stashing the body in a closet and continuing on her way, not bothering to clean the blood from her weapon. _If only that had been someone else, someone not an assassin, I'd be promoted for that, but then again I only came to this place to do what I'm doing now…

* * *

_

Darkmark drew his sword and held it up defensively, but Gemma's whip went under the blade and smacked his leg, leaving a red welt behind, though Darkmark didn't care and ignored the pain. Skafria would be fine so long as he didn't get over-zealous in his swipes, and if he kept Maria out of the way, so much the better…

When she lashed at him again, he dodged to the right this time but slammed into a bookcase with his excess vigor. The room wasn't all that large, but was much better to fight in that the corridor and he was almost glad he had been brought in here to see these two off. With a defensive swing of his sword he tried to knock away another whip lash, but instead the edge of his blade cut through whatever the whip was made of and reduced it considerably in length. Tossing it aside, Gemma took up a defensive stance and dodged aside as he swung for her, and her swift kick nearly caught his shoulder but missed by a fraction of an inch.

Going on the offensive, she leapt up into the air and went straight over him, clearing his wings, and gave him a firm kick in the back as she came down, before landing on her hands and springing forwards, planting her feet on the wall. She then ran up the wall and along the ceiling to the astonishment of Darkmark, who was caught off guard and took a hard punch to the side of his head, stunning him for a moment.

It was very weak, but it was still there… she was using chi to keep herself stuck to the ceiling, and Darkmark made a sweeping motion with his free hand, sending a cloud of purple psionic sparks up towards her. Several of them made contact with her skin and she gave a cry as they knocked white ones out of her, and she fell hurtling down to the ground head-first, and never recovered from the landing, snapping her neck on impact…

"Gemma!" Maria called out, keeping Skafria in front of her as a meat shield. She had gotten her whip tangled around his hands as well, so that he couldn't break free, and she kept him in position as Darkmark eyed them up. "Why doesn't he just die?" she called aloud, pulling back on the whip again.

"You can't kill someone who's already dead…" Darkmark muttered, sheathing his sword and taking out his flail. Holding it out from his body, he managed to get the balls swinging underneath it in a half-circle, then finally into a full circle, spinning them faster and faster as he tried to circle around the pair of Yoshies to get to the assassin. She matched him move for move, however fast he ran or in which direction, and finally Darkmark decided to resort to his psionics, putting his flail away and holding both hands in front of him…

The air around them turned darker, and streams of black mist swirled towards his palms, growing into a ball of black energy that filled the air with a hissing sound as more and more of the black mist was drawn into it from the ether around him. Finally, he released it in a blast of energy that enveloped both Yoshies and the wall behind them, blackening the floor and wall and vaporising the assassin and the whip holding the vampire, leaving only ashes to show they had ever been.

Skafria opened his eyes and blinked, tapping his chest a few times, before breathing a sigh of relief. "That felt kind of hot. You took your chances there, didn't you?"

Darkmark gave no reply as he prepared to leave and finish what had begun…

**_To be continued…_**


	73. Chapter Seventy Two: Tarnished Silver

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 72 - Tarnished Silver**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Sorry, this should have been up yesterday, but I had a memory lapse and forgot it was sunday. No worries, here it is!_

"They're coming… prepare yourself."

Tsi-Lau did as instructed, taking up her hiding spot above the doorway, her feet 'sticking' to the wall via the aid of her Chi. Her sensei ran into the veiled area of her private backroom, moving through an illusory wall at the back of it and watching through it to see what happened. The illusion could only be seen from one side; from the other it was completely transparent, allowing her to watch her student – a Templar now, she reminded herself – perform this task. If she got into trouble, perhaps she would help… after all, she had only had time to give the most basic instruction on fighting Vampires and Psychics, and she might not intuitively know how to deal the final blow…

Surprisingly, the first one to enter was another assassin, through a side door from the guild. At first she thought that it was merely an errand-runner, but the look in her eyes and her drawn weapon told her otherwise. She spotted Tsi-Lau almost immediately, and the silver Templar came down to talk to the low-level assassin.

"What is your purpose here?" Tsi-Lau asked briskly.

"I need to see the Tenth." Sira replied just as tersely.

"She's busy. Come back later."

"It's important." Conversations between assassins with a rank gap were often short and to the point.

"Why do you need to see her?"

"I have a message for her."

"Then tell me, I shall pass it along."

"I must see her in person."

Tsi-Lau gave an angry glare, then bore her fangs at Sira. "Tell me," she said menacingly, "Before I have to use force I'd rather not have to…"

"A vampire!" Sira whispered to herself, almost in reflex. "Just like-…"

"How do you know that?" Tsi-Lau asked, then it clicked. "Just like who…? Wait. You know -him-, don't you…? You know where they are! Tell me!"

"Get back!" Sira shouted, holding her fan defensively.

Tsi-Lau reached behind her and drew both her swords, taking up a stance for a moment before flying into an attack against the pinkish Yoshi. Surprisingly agile, Sira ducked the two horizontal slashes before bringing her fan up to block another, stepping back immediately from the fourth slash and rolling off to one side to dodge the final vertical slash in Tsi-Lau's first technique.

"Quite surprising." The silver assassin mused as she turned to face her opponent. "With skill like that you could go far in the guild. Why waste it by dying here?"

"I only joined for but one purpose, and nobody nor anything shall stop me from doing that."

Without another word, Tsi-Lau began her next assault, leaping forwards and swinging both blades at once in a pincer-like attack, with the edges striking only each other as Sira jumped back. Tsi-Lau then rolled forwards and leapt into the air, slashing up with one blade, then used the other on the downwards attack, but Sira sidestepped the first and blocked the second. With a two-way horizontal slash she almost hit Sira as she backed into a wall, but her follow-up twin stab with both swords hit only the masonry as Sira ducked beneath the swords, and she rolled to the side once again.

"You have only to say but a few words and I shall spare your life." Tsi-Lau chided as she pulled her blades free, then ran a finger along each edge, sharpening them with her chi. "Where are they?"

"You shall see soon enough. I would have thought they might be here by now, but I'm sure that nobody can stop them, only slow them down."

At the moment she said 'soon enough', both Tsi-Lau and the hidden Yasei-Yeiko felt the large surge of psionic energy as Darkmark took care of Maria far down the corridor. Tsi-Lau put it out of her mind, however, and started her next attack, leaping into the air and somersaulting as she bore down upon her target. Just before she was about to land on Sira she held her swords out and dived headfirst for her, but again she was too quick and Tsi-Lau spun through a half-circle and landed on her feet, springing off with her acquired momentum towards the pink Yoshi. With one sword in front of her and the other held high, she swung the upper one as she stabbed forwards and missed by inches as Sira leant back and bent her knees, holding her fan protectively in front of her face. The tip of Tsi-Lau's sword skidded off the steel plates and shaved off a strip of paint, and the swing passed harmlessly overhead, giving Sira plenty of time to backflip away from the twin vertical slash that followed.

"Such skill is rarely seen within the guild." Tsi-Lau called again. "You could go far, far beyond your dreams."

"My dreams shall never be true, for they contain a life that was taken that I have come to avenge. I want nothing to do with this place but to have the revenge that lost life never can take."

"Do you live only for vengeance? What then, when you achieve it? With the emptiness you will feel, you may as well be dead…"

Her next attack was one she had only pulled off successfully once, many years ago. She ran forwards and kicked out at Sira, striking her but not with enough force to knock her back, before bringing her other leg up and narrowly missing Sira's head with the attack, using the follow-through to spin her around and give her sufficient speed for another sideways slash. When Sira blocked it, she leapt into the air and spread her legs, passing both blades underneath them and flipping them up into the air as the sharp tips sliced the air a fraction of an inch away from her adversary's nose. Upon landing, she leapt up again and did a backflip in midair, finally landing a hit as the toe of her boot connected with the underside of Sira's nose, then grabbed the handles of her swords and fell back to the ground. No sooner had her feet touched the floor than she spun the swords once through a full circle and stabbed forwards, too fast for the stunned pink Yoshi to react…

* * *

After leaving the room where the two assassins had met their match, Darkmark had dispelled the disguise over him and Skafria, reasoning that he would need all of the psionic power he could muster to overcome the assassin that had wronged him so. Stopping just outside the heavy wooden door, Darkmark drew Karlo-Shin's sword from its sheath, taking note of the doubly-bright shine it was giving off, so much so that he found himself squinting because of it. Jamming the sword into the gap between the doors, he brought it down easily through the wooden bar on the other side and gave it a solid kick, sending the doors flying open. He ran in, with Skafria in tow, but stopped short when he saw Tsi-Lau waiting for him, clearly expecting his arrival. She had her swords held in front of her, stained red two-thirds of the way to the handles, and blood dripped off of them slowly as she held them rock steady. Off to one side, Sira's body lay slumped against the wall, bearing two deep stab wounds in her upper chest, from which blood was flowing readily down her white, unmoving chest. 

"At last I'm done with them." Tsi-Lau spat. "Ever since that kayatin son of Vick's showed up everything got progressively worse. But now the final friend of theirs is dead, and you're all that remains of the time I spent between then and now…"

"Step aside, I'm not interested in you." Darkmark ordered. "You know I can kill you and you know I won't hesitate to do so."

"Sorry." She said curtly, bringing her frown into a malicious smile. "I have a job to do, and you won't stop me from doing it."

She pointed her sword swiftly at Skafria, flicking blood from it in the process. "You won't fight me and I know it. You can't hurt me and I can't hurt you. Perhaps when I am done with him I will forgive you, and we can prowl the streets together for food…"

Skafria gave her a steely glare, but said nothing, folding his arms and leaning back against the wall to watch. She was right; he couldn't hurt her and he wouldn't waste his time trying, but Darkmark on the other hand…

"Fight me then, psychic." She said, tensing her body muscles. "Prove to me your power if you must. You beat me once, but you won't do it again…"

"Fine." He replied, holding his sword firm. "If it is to be this way, then so be it. I shall send you to the underworld as a sacrifice to the Dark Gods!"

He leapt forwards into the air and came down upon her with a broad slash, but she caught it on one sword and swung for him with the other. Moving his free hand swiftly, he traced a path of psionic energy out that blocked the attack before dissipating, and he held his sword horizontally to block the swift attack she used against him, counterattacking with another sweeping hit.

Just as the enchanted edge was about to hit her she vanished in a cloud of smoke and reappeared behind him, but he detected the surge of Chi from that direction and swung as he turned around, striking her blade as she held it vertically to protect her. Pivoting his sword around where it had hit hers, he moved the lower part into the path of an oncoming slash before deftly stepping back from an attack of her own. Taking the offensive, she make a diagonal swipe, a forward stab, an upwards slash and a downwards attack, missing each time as he stepped further and further back until he bumped into the wall. Rather than wait for her to attack, however, he leapt forwards and drove his elbow into her chest, swinging with his sword, but as they fell to the ground his swing went wide and struck the floor, slicing through the granite tiles with no resistance. Getting to his feet, he took a stab downwards, but she rolled to one side and brought up one sword, clipping a tiny cut into one of the membranes on Darkmark's wing, but missing otherwise, and she teleported away from him again before he could lash out once more.

Deciding to bring his psionics into play, Darkmark charged up a ball of energy and threw it at her, but she dodged it easily with reflexes so quick that it was all too obvious she was using her chi to aid her. As she ran forwards she jumped up and made one slash, then another, missing as Darkmark circled around behind her and took a swipe, robbed of his fatal attack by the metal buckle keeping her sword scabbards strapped to her back, which deflected his strike. She turned around quickly and made a diagonal cut upwards, missing by inches as Darkmark stepped back again, but as her follow-up downwards diagonal slash almost hit him he stabbed forwards while she was recovering…

The blade passed straight through her, but the moment it did so she burst into a myriad of flecks of white energy, which expanded from where she had been and disappeared rapidly until they were all gone. Satisfied, Darkmark sheathed his sword and caught his breath, casting a gaze over to Sira's body.

_One more death I have had to avenge…_

"No, Valina!"

Darkmark turned his head in the direction of the voice to see Yasei-Yeiko standing just in front of the curtains covering her private area, but unknown to him the tears she was shedding were but crocodile tears. She knew the truth but didn't want to give it away, and pretended to cry softly as she stared mournfully at the spot where her student had been defeated.

"Why… why did you have to kill her?" She asked, turning her head to Darkmark and wiping the tears from her purple cheeks.

"Why do you care so much?" Darkmark retorted. "She was only one of your underlings…"

"She was more than that…. she was my best student, my favourite student, and I expected her to go far…"

"No worries." Darkmark said evilly. "Just give in now and you can go see her…"

"No." Came the bitter reply. "I will avenge her banishment… you have not yet seen just how good an assassin I am…"

As Skafria strode up to Darkmark's side and drew his sword, she cast aside her veils in a quick yet seemingly low-spirited move, taking two sword hilts from a belt she wore. As she held one in each hand, the expression on her face changed from sadness to concentration, and from the sword hilts came fuzzy white blades of pure chi energy, weightless yet as powerful as any sword…

She swung one of them and as she did so, the blade bent into a curve before slicing through the air and leaving a trail of chi behind it, which faded after a moment as the blade returned to its full straight length. "I have not had to use my chi-blades in combat for almost two years… I will enjoy giving you all the pain that I can!"

"Just like you did to Shiala?"

She gave a little snort. "Ah yes, her. I made her an offer, but she refused and died because of it. You two were so noisy that night, I could scarcely believe my ear-holes. I know ferals are a little hot to handle, but a prison cell? Have you no decency?"

Darkmark clenched his free hand in anger. "If you're trying to provoke me, it's not working…"

"Oh, but it is, and I can see it. You're angry because you know the truth, that you didn't love her, you just wanted to satiate your fleshly desires…"

"You shut your mouth, _ki khíshala kísya_!" Darkmark roared. "I loved her and when you killed her, you killed a part of me as well… maybe watching your beloved student die will have let you experience a mere fraction of the pain you dealt to me!"

Darkmark held his sword ready, tensing his legs in preparation to fight her._ Shiala… Andreas… please, watch over me and protect me as I avenge your deaths… I have so much left to do, I do not want to meet you again just yet…_

**To be continued…**


	74. Chapter Seventy Three: Blood Feud

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 73 -Blood Feud**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"I do what I must in the name of the guild." Yasei-Yeiko said simply, raising one of her chi-blades up in front of her face for a moment before beginning her initial attack.

Her first move was to leap through the air with both swords swinging, striking two hard blows against the flat of Darkmark's sword as he struggled to keep it up against the onslaught. Before he could make a counterattack she was upon him again and he barely managed to dip his sword to block one swipe and sidestep another, finding a need to raise his sword yet again to deflect a rapid strike before an upward slice barely missed as he leant out of the way. He was sure the next one would get him when she suddenly leapt up into the air and over him to dodge Skafria's stab, landing gracefully behind Darkmark and making a swing for his back. He spun around and blocked the swipe before jumping up and over the low swing she made, then ducked down and rolled off to one side as she made another attack.

Skafria took over and came forwards with an attack of his own, parried upon the shining blades of Yasei-Yeiko, and he swung again to intercept a strike of hers. The curved blade struck the diamond and put added force into the swing as the curve became straight, forcing Skafria's sword back towards himself, though even the finely cut diamond edge couldn't hurt him.

The chi-blade could. The very edge touched his skin as it bent around the end of his sword, and it sent a shock of pain into him along with a bright flash of green light. He stumbled backwards clutching at the spot, though there was no wound to indicate any injury, and while he recovered Darkmark stepped back in to the aid of his friend, blocking a strike with his sword but again finding himself under the wrath of a flurry of attacks. Both blades struck ringing blows against his sword, and he was forced a step back as she pummelled his defences with her blades, never getting through, but never losing ground or letting him counterattack.

Finally he saw his chance and made a counterattacking block; as she swung forwards he thrust forwards, but kept his sword in the path of her blade. She was forced to dodge as her attack was blocked, and Darkmark brought his sword up in a similar motion to block her other blade before stabbing downwards, almost hitting her but striking nothing as she backflipped away nimbly.

Both Skafria and Darkmark rushed her at once, and parried her intercepting strikes with their swords, though she made a stab for Darkmark and her subsequent upwards slash missed his head by inches. Darkmark made a broad swing in retaliation and missed as she stepped aside, but almost hit Skafria who was making a stab at the same time and had to duck to the side suddenly.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing!" he shouted angrily as he blocked Yasei-Yeiko's attempt to slice through him while he was down. Darkmark didn't need to worry about it though, as he overshot on his next stab forwards and after leaning back away from him, she swiftly brought her black-leather boot up and kicked his sword free from his hands.

The blade went flying through the air and embedded itself in the far wall all the way up to the handle, slicing through the bricks and stone as though they were naught but paper. Darkmark found himself in a desperate situation as she tried to hack at him with her blade, and put as little attention towards Skafria as safety would permit while she tried to finish off Darkmark. Thinking quickly, he dodged one of her vertical slashes before putting up a purple, translucent web of energy to block the next attack. The sword cut into the web, but there was a backlash of energy and Yasei-Yeiko was sent flying backwards, the blades of her weapons flickering out momentarily as her concentration was disrupted.

Seizing his opportunity, Darkmark threw a psionic cable towards her in an attempt to bind her, but she raised one of her swords to block it as the white blade came back, brighter than before. The cable latched onto the hilt of the chi-blade, and Darkmark wrenched it free from her grip and brought it back to himself, catching it easily as she got up and defended herself from Skafria with her remaining blade.

No sooner had the blade entered Darkmark's hand than the white blade vanished, but the residual psionic charge from the cable passed from his hand into the sword hilt and brought a purple blade up from the hilt, similar to Yasei-Yeiko's except that the energy seemed to crackle and pulse slightly, rather than shine calmly like the chi-blade did.

Hardly even thinking, Darkmark rushed in to Skafria's aid as the vampire deflected a two-handed strike from the head assassin, but was nearly caught off guard when she passed the blade around behind her back and struck again in a similar fashion, grazing the surface of his chest and causing a sustained green flash to go off, accompanying Skafria's shout of pain. Turning and holding her chi-blade defensively as the blade curved and twisted, she blocked the attack Darkmark made with the psi-blade without paying full attention to him, and paid the price when the two blades interacted…

The wave of chaotic psi energy passed down through her chi-blade and shocked her, but she was saved from serious injury when the hilt blew apart from the sudden surge and crumbled from her hand. This had a similar recoil effect upon Darkmark's weapon, and he felt the hilt grow very hot in his hands before he was forced to drop it, whereupon it shattered upon hitting the floor and the purple blade vanished.

So shocked was she that she failed to avoid Skafria's swing in time and his sideways slash cut her deeply, the diamond edge slicing easily through her leather garment about halfway across her body, biting into her flesh. She cried out but didn't clutch the wound, and made a straight-arm punch for Darkmark but missed as he twisted his body to the side, grabbing her hand as it whipped by his face. He twisted her wrist sharply through two-thirds of a circle and she shouted in agony parallel to the sound of her wrist bones snapping. Skafria's sword cut another gash into her body and sliced the rest of the way through her leotard, and she fell to her front the floor in defeat, whimpering and begging for them to stop.

"No." Darkmark said coldly, putting the weight of his body onto her back. "I'm not stopping until you have felt all the pain that you gave to Shiala…"

"Please, I give up." She cried. "Don't kill me, I'll do anything…"

"I'm not falling for your assassin's tricks." He said, grabbing the remains of her leotard and ripping it from her body, before taking Skafria's sword from him. "You would rather die than let your life be spared… although, you did it before, for Foryo, didn't you?"

"D-Don't kill me." She said again. "I-I have so much left to do, I have… I have a family…"

"You're a human." Darkmark spat, bringing her upper body off the floor and holding the sword to her neck. "A filthy human disgracing the body of a Yoshi. I cannot and will not let you live."

"Why?" She asked, "Doesn't… doesn't Octotheism tell you not to take a life needlessly? Don't kill me… not yet…"

Darkmark bit his lip, but soon countered, "How many lives have you taken away? You're an assassin! How many orphans and widows and saddened faces have you created? And how many more there be if I do not kill you now?"

She did not reply at first, then said softly, "Why… did we have to fight?"

"You know why…"

"No, no… it's… not meant to be like this… Yoshi against Yoshi… I never wanted this to happen… I came here to get my revenge… my people have suffered… at the hands of the humans… so I came here… I became an assassin… I killed humans, but… I killed Yoshies too… and Birdos… I have… I have done wrong, but… I wanted it to be for a good cause…"

She paused to take a breath, ever mindful of the sword at her throat. "I sent some of the money I made back to my home… to help my family, my friends, what remains of my race… I soared through the ranks, but… my life never seemed to have meaning… and no matter how many humans I killed, there were always more… always… not a day would go by when I did not despise them for all they did, and not a week passed when I did not hear of some atrocity against our people…"

She turned her head slowly to look him in the eyes. "I have… seen flashes of the future… of what it could be… you… you have to stop this… you have to unite our people… divided by our races, the humans are destroying us… the anthros, the ferals, the winged ones … given time, they will attack the rest… your people… the city Yoshies… we cannot let that happen… you… you have the power… you can change the future… o saviour… Dark God…"

Unnerved, Darkmark stood up, but kept the sword pointed in her direction all the time. She rolled over onto her back, uncaring that it exposed her body, or that the blood smeared across her purple-and-white features was copious enough to be fatal. "We could have been friends… we could have changed the future together… but I took advantage of you… I had a master and I served him… but I was wrong… I caused you so much hurt… so much pain… I cannot atone for what I have done, I cannot bring back Shiala… but you are a saviour, perhaps you can…"

"How?" he asked, unmoving. "How can anyone return life to the dead? Not even the saviours, not even the Dark Gods can give life to the dead…"

"The saviours and Dark Gods cannot because they are not actual gods… but the Light Gods are… even with their diminished power… they can still do wondrous things… the marble altar… if you find it, perhaps… they will…"

She coughed twice, swallowed heavily, and then her gaze went blank, her eyes staring unfocused. "No matter… you have killed me already… I am merely waiting for my spirit to be freed from my body… the Gods will judge me for what I have done… though merciful… they cannot overlook what I did… perhaps… if you become a Dark God… I may see you again… in the underworld…"

Her eyes closed, and her head rolled to one side. "Valina…" she whispered, "I…"

Whatever she had been about to say was cut short, and her last breath escaped her body silently. Darkmark prodded her once with his foot to make sure she was dead, then handed Skafria's sword back to him, meeting a gaze from the vampire that told him all was not well.

"You're a Dark God now, are you?"

"What is it to you?" Darkmark muttered, folding his arms. "I am not yet, but soon… soon I will be. Why do you care?"

"I don't." Skafria said, shaking his head. "Not any more… maybe if I was still alive, but now… if that's the path you want to take, I won't get in your way. I'll follow you wherever you go. Nobody else would let me…"

Darkmark nodded slowly, then went to fetch Karlo-Shin's sword, sheathing it without a shred of remorse for what he had done to the assassin. Sira's body lay still and motionless, the flow of blood ceased, and he picked her up and carried her back over to Skafria, who was looking at the body of Yasei-Yeiko with an unclear expression upon his face.

"Pity she had to die…" he murmured. "Nice looking, and an anthro too, but those days are probably behind me anyway…"

He ran his tongue across his fangs as he continued to stare. "I feel so hungry… so weak… those chi-blades must have sapped my Volzia protection somewhat… and all that blood… it's fresh…"

"Do it if you want." Darkmark said, sighing to himself. "Lick her body clean if you're so damned desperate. I'm not going to watch, but I won't stop you. Then we're taking Sira back… it'll hurt Tammy, I'm sure, but the sooner he knows, the sooner he can get over it…"

After about a minute, Skafria stood back up and followed Darkmark out of the room. As they left, Darkmark caught something out of the corner of his eye… a little fleck of white energy, hovering in the air. He put it out of his mind, walking out the open doors, comforted that his vengeance was at last complete…

**_To be continued…_**


	75. Chapter Seventy Four: Questions And Answ...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 74 - Questions and Answers**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

It was far too late when the bright flash of chi signalled Tsi-Lau's return to her body. Within a moment she surmised what had happened from the absence of Sira's body, and the presence of her Sensei's. Crossing over to the lifeless purple body, she sighed and whispered a prayer under her breath, bending down and gently touching her white stomach…

Her hand came away slightly sticky, and she blinked. _Saliva… it must have been bloody… I guess that other vampire wanted some food… but it was doubtless a bonus for him to lick it from the body of my teacher, that_ kayatin_…_

Silent, she retrieved what remained of the leather leotard and put it back on the body, feeling bitter about the callous exposure of Yasei-Yeiko's body and wondering if anything else had been done to her… but then she remembered. _Five minutes. They would have barely had time to kill her… but how unlike her to fall so quickly…_

She began to check the pockets on the leotard, careful by nature of the pins and other weapons within, though none of them could hurt her. Eventually she found what she was looking for; her set of guild rank stamps, and knowing what she had to do Tsi-Lau made the mark upon her scabbards to signify what had happened; she was the successor to her sensei, and had now taken her place. As she was replacing them, she found something else inside the pocket, and took it out; a scrap of vaell parchment, folded neatly but carefully so as not to damage it.

She unfolded it and read the symbols of the guild's code swiftly. _My student, if you are reading this, it is too late for me. I can see many things when I am in the trance, the future being but one of them. I have my doubts about my own future, about my own life… but, it is not for me to be like you, a creature of the darkness. Do not bring me back to the world, for I have failed and cannot aid you any more. I write this hoping it will never be seen by your eyes, but fortune favours the prepared…_

_Grieve not for me, for life is but a temporary prison of the mind and soul from which I have been freed. My time is over and yours now begins; you are on your own path now, your own journey, with only what you have learned to guide you. Do what you believe is the right thing… trust in your judgement… and remember that I shall watch over you in spirit, my student._

_Taráya, your Sensei._

Underneath the scrawling code she found four words in plain Yoshian…_ Ka stóllada ki, Valina._

The silver assassin used all of her willpower and training to fight the urge to bury her head in her hands and cry.

* * *

When Darkmark walked into the flat, the last thing he expected to see was played out in front of him; another assassin had come, and had Samintha held at knifepoint. Tamaroro was nowhere to be seen.

"Stay back, or I'll kill her!" the assassin shouted, a yellowish Yoshi with a menacing tone to his voice.

"What would you kill her for?" Darkmark asked, putting Sira's body to one side, trying not to make eye contact with her flatmate. "Your leader is dead…"

"Her orders remain regardless." The assassin replied, clearly unbelieving.

"I have heard that it's not a welcome tactic among you to take hostages."

The assassin chuckled. "You're right. Best get rid of her so I can fight you…"

He jammed the knife into her back and made her scream, but she wrenched away from him and opened up a clear shot for Darkmark, who threw a bolt of raw psionic energy at the assassin. It struck him hard and he stumbled back, but as he had not been using any chi he was able to recover and stood straight in time to catch another attack, this time from Skafria, who had his sword pressed against the assassin's neck before he could react.

"Kill me if you want." He spat. "But more will come. Until you're dead, we won't rest until you've been sent to the afterlife!"

With a cackle, he vanished in a cloud of smoke and did not reappear. Darkmark rushed to Samintha's aid and pulled the knife from her back, thankful that the small dagger had not hurt anything seriously, and managed to heal her after two attempts, finding that the stab wound was harder to heal than a small cut.

"Where's Tamaroro?" He asked, and she pointed to one of the bedroom doors.

"In there… why do they keep coming for us… and what happened to Sira…?"

"Another assassin got her…" he said sadly as Skafria went to find the infant. "She died honourably though, and we avenged her death…"

"What… what am I going to do?" she sobbed. "I can't stay here… but if I move away, I can't take Tammy with me… or if I went to the residences, I couldn't keep him there either…"

"We'll sort something out." Darkmark said calmly. "I think I might know someone who could help. I'm going to leave Skafria here to keep an eye on you, but I shouldn't be that long anyway…"

"Wait, where are you going?" she called, as he opened one of the large panelled windows and crouched on the windowsill.

"To get answers to questions I can't find by myself." He replied, before taking off into the night.

* * *

Darkmark was mildly surprised when he entered the church and found it almost completely shadowed in darkness, lit dimly by candles around the edges. The only movement within was that of the pastor, sweeping the floor free of dust and humming a tune to himself as he did so, clearly preoccupied.

The brown Yoshi coughed once to catch his attention, striding forward through the darkness to meet him, and the both of them sat down at one of the benches to talk.

"I think I remember you… I saw you on a reward poster recently." Vachez said, starting the conversation.

"Just some people with clouded judgement and blind obedience." Darkmark replied curtly. "I'm out of here tomorrow."

"What have you come here for?"

"For guidance, of course." Darkmark said solemnly, trying to sound dark but not too intimidating. "We all need help sometimes."

"Yes, yes we do… what questions would you like me to answer?"

"Already I have witnessed several deaths within the past few hours… the safety of someone I know is at risk, but they cannot make themselves safe without abandoning someone else. There's a little orphan by the name of Tamaroro that-"

"Tammy is alive?" Vachez asked, cutting in, suddenly looking up with a hopeful gaze. "I rescued him when his parents were killed, but he was taken from me to an orphanage. How is he?"

Darkmark took a deep breath. "He escaped, and from what he told us I do not blame him. We found him on the verge of death, being brutally attacked by some humans who went looking for him, and we saved his life. Since then he had been staying with the one who healed him, but now she's dead…"

"I would love to take him back if you would let me." Vachez said, answering Darkmark's request before he even asked it. "I will not let them take him from me again."

"Thank you. I can't look after him… I'm not someone who should look after children."

"Well, why not?" Vachez asked, tapping the ring on Darkmark's finger. "Someone once wanted you to…"

"That was then. But now… my hands are stained with blood, and the darkness is coming for me… so many deaths I have had to avenge… so many lives I have taken… I know what I must do, but whether I can do it when the time comes, I do not know…"

Vachez thought for a moment. "What are you saying?"

Darkmark's eyes flicked up to meet his gaze. "I am saying that I have sold my soul to the darkness. There is no longer any way for me to turn back from the road I have chosen… nothing I can do any more…"

Surprisingly, the dark grey Yoshi shook his head, before taking hold of an end of his scarf, and holding it up so Darkmark could see the Octotheist emblem stitched into the black fabric. Just like the mark on his arm that had faded away, eight small circles around the edge of a larger circle made up the emblem, though the stitching made them slightly angular. "This is more than just a symbol. There are the eight principles associated with the gods… Hope gives us comfort in our time of need, Luck affects so much of our lives, the Future is where we must always look to, Power is the strength we need to survive, Love helps us find happiness, Wisdom guides us wherever we go, Life is the gift we all are given, but Death comes to us all eventually…

"You see, Marcus, it's not that what the God of Death said or what his followers want that's such a problem… if you truly are a follower of the darkness, you will know that… but he gave in to the evil forces and tried to destroy his own people. He sacrificed innocent lives to gain power, to get what he wanted. He was not afraid to sink to any level if it would attain his desires. That was why we shun him and why we detest him…"

"My hands are stained." Darkmark repeated. "Not just with the blood of humans, but of my Yoshian brethren too…"

"But is it the blood of the innocent?"

"No." he said firmly, after a moment of thought. "Not one person that I have killed did not deserve to die."

"Then there you have it. If what you say _is_ true, you do follow the teachings of the Lord of Darkness's followers. They believe that killing is the only way to achieve peace, but only through the deaths of those who deserve to die, not those who are innocent."

After a few moments of silence, Darkmark stood up. "Thank you." He said, handing the priest some money.

"I cannot…"

"Take it." The brown Yoshi insisted. "Perhaps Tamaroro will need it. If not, the church may find a use. It's not my concern."

Striding calmly and confidently out of the church, Darkmark took off into the sky and took one last look over the city he would be leaving tomorrow. So many deaths here, so many innocent lives taken… but not by his hand. They would go to the underworld, but he would not…

**_To be continued…_**


	76. Chapter Seventy Five: Just Another Day

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 75 - Just another day**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"We're out of here." Darkmark told Skafria in the morning. "Tammy is going to be adopted by a Yoshian priest and Samintha is off to live with her friends."

"Finally, we leave somebody behind and they're still alive." Skafria said bitterly, looking out of the window at the city. The night had not been disturbed and both the levels of city watchmen and suspected assassins prowling the streets had thinned considerably.

"We're heading southwest." Darkmark told him, in case he had forgotten. "If we fly, we should be able to cover a good distance by nightfall. Maybe there'll be a traveller's inn we can stop at somewhere along the way to get some food, and a place to sleep. Sound good to you?"

"Fine, but I'm flying this time, instead of hanging on your saddlebags."

Darkmark raised an eyebrow. It had already become a reflex in tandem with his questioning stare. "And how are you going to do that?"

"You haven't seen everything vampires can do, never forget that." Skafria said with a smirk, and left it at that.

Samintha came in with Tamaroro at that time, and held the little baby up. He was getting a bit bigger now and certainly looked healthier, though his frown and saddened eyes betrayed his inner feelings.

"This is good-bye, kid." Darkmark said quietly, putting a hand on the green baby's. "Maybe I'll see you again, but I don't know. Don't worry, Vachez'll take good care of you, I'm sure of it."

Tamaroro forced a smile. "He's fun. He makes me laugh and his scarf is tickly…"

Darkmark chuckled and reached into his saddlebags. "Here, you can have this as a memento. Keep it, I don't need it any more…"

Taking out the necklace with the elven rune, shining brightly due to Skafria's presence, he put it around Tamaroro's neck and gave him a pat on the head. "Keep it safe, okay?"

"Okay!" He said brightly, intrigued by the way it shone.

"I'll come and visit you whenever I can." Samintha said, bouncing Tamaroro in her arms. "And maybe when you're older you can come and see me, hm?"

Darkmark held back a smile, and walked over to the window where Skafria waited. "We're going now… see you around!"

Without waiting for a reply he jumped out of the window and soared over to the next building over, with its wide, flat roof. He saw Skafria make the jump as normal and flutter to reach the roof, landing beside Darkmark on the solid stone.

Without waiting, he disappeared into a cloud of smoke and came out as a bat, only this time, he was a much larger bat, almost as big as Darkmark was. He had great leathery wings as his arms and blue fur covering his body, and seemed not at all affected by the sun, taking off and heading in the opposite direction to it as Darkmark took a run-up, leapt into the air, and followed.

About mid-day they flew into a light snowfall over the grassy plains of the open country, which became heavier as they went and eventually forced them to take shelter within a copse of trees and spend another night in the open. The following day progressed equally uneventfully, with only minor snow throughout the day, blanketing everything in white and giving the landscape a serene, peaceful touch. Miles went by beneath them as they soared just below the clouds; vast empty areas and the occasional village, roads and the carts and people upon them, forests, marshes, all went whipping past as the winged Yoshi and the giant bat flew ever onwards, stopping only for Darkmark to eat or for the both of them to sleep, or to ambush the lone traveller so Skafria could replenish his strength while Darkmark checked the compass…

After about five days they crossed the border between the mostly-Yoshian area known as the Letekka Plains, and headed into the human-controlled kingdom on the Felennia Grasslands. The difference was noticeable, as almost immediately the number of towns and cities drastically increased along with the number of roads connecting them, and the traffic between them. They were too far south to have had a chance of seeing the sprawling capital even on a clear day, so while the snow was falling it was tough for them just to see as far ahead as they could.

Darkmark found the cold extremely irritable and had taken to holding fireballs in his hands as he flew to try and keep himself warm. The light they gave off made him easy to spot, but he was high above the ground and couldn't care less, and kept going, crossing mile after mile of mostly cultivated grassland. Skafria didn't have any complaints, or if he did, he kept them to himself…

After another three days of flying they finally reached the edges of the huge mountain range known as the Kaftata Mountains, named after the rare medicinal plants that grew within them. They were tough to traverse and nobody had ever managed to cross them and come back, so they were regarded as a south-western boundary of the inhabited lands of Chyrus, along with the huge, impenetrable Crelata forests north of them, the Zorenni Desert made hazardous by the Koopas who lived there, the great Eastern Ocean that none had ever returned from, and the permanently frozen Ailena Wastelands in the southeast. It was almost as though all civilisation was boxed in to the inhabited lands, unable to expand outside those natural boundaries…

Eventually the blizzard became heavy enough that it grounded them and forced them to walk through the snowstorm until they saw a building next to the snow-coated road. It was late and nearly dark, and the sight of a Traveller's Inn was the warmest welcome the two weary travellers could have ever hoped to see. Its lights shone brightly into the cold, dark night, and the way they flickered showed the presence of a fire – but all Darkmark could care about was that it was warm, indoors, and probably could provide a place for him to sleep that wasn't just snow covering dirt and stones.

Upon getting through the door and closing it again, a tough task in the face of the howling wind, Darkmark hung up his cloak, shook off the snow, and collapsed into one of the plush, comfy chairs near the fire. His wings ached from the extended exertion and his body felt numb from the cold, and almost immediately he fell asleep by the dancing light of the fire, sinking into the cushions.

Skafria muttered darkly as he was left to get a room, and tried to keep his head down so that his nose would cover up his fangs. "I need a room, please." He told the orange female Yoshi at the desk. "Just the two of us, assuming he wants to move from his comfy spot…"

"No problem. You're the only people here aside from my other visitor, and she was travelling alone. You, I can see out in weather like this, but she's not that old… sky-blue skin, I thought she'd frozen when she came stumbling in, but that's just her normal skin tone… we get some odd types around here. Usually explorers…"

She handed him a pair of tagged keys, and wandered off to go do something after putting the money into a padlocked box that Skafria saw was chained and anchored to the floor. Walking over to Darkmark, he threw the key at him and it landed on his chest, but it didn't rouse him from his slumber and he continued to sleep peacefully.

"Wonderful." He said to himself, smirking. "It's getting late… perhaps its time for me to get a midnight snack…"

* * *

The unfortunate young Yoshi who had just been marked as someone's dinner was lying under the bedclothes in a room at the end of the inn, trying to get to sleep. Although the room was sealed from outside it was still quite cold, and she shivered despite the large duvet covering her body, wondering if she should take the blanket from the chair and go camp out near the fire until she warmed up…

Her eyes fluttered open when she heard someone trying her door handle, but she stayed where she was and watched the door closely, unable to make anything out while her eyes adjusted to the light. The door opened slowly and a figure entered her room, and something about the unexpected visitor told her his intentions weren't friendly ones. She kept rock still as he crept into the room, catching what he was whispering to himself.

"Yoshies are nice… I prefer Birdos, but Yoshies are still good… and females are always better… particularly the younger ones… they taste better for some reason…"

He made the mistake of turning his back on her in order to close the door, and as soon as he did so she sprang into action, leaping up from the bed and standing straight in a combat-ready pose, her hands enveloped in fire she could throw at any moment. They lit up the room and revealed Skafria in all his glory, but without his cloak, and he held up a hand against the sudden change in light, hissing in reflex.

She threw both fireballs at him simultaneously, but just as they were about to hit him they spread over his body as though he were protected by a shield and he remained unhurt, even when she next threw two bolts of electricity at him. He made a lunge for her and she dodged to the side with super speed, throwing another pair of fireballs to no avail. He stood up and gave a loud hiss unlike his normal one, that echoed in the small room and momentarily had her stunned, but she broke free from it and dodged towards the door, wrenching it open, but he leapt over towards the door and put his weight against it, slamming it shut. She stepped back as he advanced on her, but he stopped when he saw a little blue glow in her eyes, and before he could figure out what it was, two beams of freezing cold struck him, spreading ice across his body, freezing him in place. She paused, proudly victorious, but sooner than she expected cracks began to appear in the ice and she bolted out the door.

* * *

It was not the loud slam that had woken Darkmark from his snooze, but the loud hiss of Skafria's that had sent prickles through his body and jerked him awake. He was sitting in the chair, scratching his head and wondering what had happened, when someone came running into the otherwise-empty lounge.

She didn't look to be very old, but that wasn't to say she didn't have the look of someone who could take care of herself if the situation arose. Her skin was a bright, sky blue, just like Sorsoy's, she wore dark blue boots and a similarly coloured saddle, and had little, curved eyelashes growing at the edges of her eyes. On the back of her head was a set of dark blue fins, and what surprised Darkmark the most was not the little puff of yellow hair on the top of her head, but the fact that her hands had only two fingers and a thumb.

"Oh, no…" she murmured, catching sight of Darkmark. "You're probably with him, aren't you…?"

"With who?" Darkmark asked, still scratching the back of his head. "And more importantly, who are you?"

Skafria came into the room a moment thereafter, and from the look he gave the Yoshi girl, it was quite clear to Darkmark what had happened. Springing up and unsheathing Karlo-Shin's sword, he held the shining blade in Skafria's direction and walked forwards until the blade was between the vampire and his would-be meal.

"Sorry if he disturbed you." Darkmark said curtly, addressing the Yoshi but not looking over to her, instead keeping his gaze firmly locked upon his comrade's. "Go back to your bedroom, but just shout if he bothers you again."

She looked as though she were about to say something else, but thought better of it and headed off, casting a last glance back at them before disappearing from sight.

"Nice going." Skafria spat, glaring at Darkmark.

"Just cleaning up your mess." Darkmark replied. "If you're going to go off and try to get some food without me, at least make a clean job of it."

"Shall we go get her when she's asleep again?"

Darkmark sighed, sheathing the sword. "No. For one she'll be too alert, and secondly, _you bit someone this morning_. Can't you go awhile without sinking your fangs into someone? Let's just go get some sleep, okay?"

"Fine…" Skafria muttered. "But if I catch her alone tomorrow…"

Darkmark sighed a second time but said nothing, following Skafria back to the room. His sword seemed to be the only control he had over the vampire, but it certainly made him listen whenever it was taken from its sheath…

**_To be continued…_**


	77. Chapter Seventy Six: Friend And Foe

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 76 - Friend and Foe**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

When Darkmark awoke early in the morning, he was dismayed to see that it was still snowing outside, albeit not as heavily as it had been the day before. When he looked over and saw that Skafria was absent from his bed, Darkmark gave an audible groan and sank his face back into the pillows. Already the day looked like it was starting horridly, and it would only get worse.

After another five minutes of undisturbed peace under the blankets, Darkmark finally decided to get up, fanning his wings out suddenly to fling the bedclothes off of his body, then getting up, dressed, and armed with the sword before heading out into the corridor.

Neither Skafria nor the Yoshi were anywhere to be seen, and Darkmark headed out to the main lobby to find the latter sat in one of the chairs in front of the fire, which had been supplied with new kindling since yesterday. She was calmly munching her way through various fruits and pastries from a small foldable table in front of her. Looking over, Darkmark spotted another tray that was almost ready, and the orange Yoshi behind it smiled brightly as she tried to finish it off.

"It was going to be for your friend, but he didn't want it. I wonder why…" she murmured. "He's locked outside, by the way. He lost a tussle with her." She added, nodding in the sky-blue Yoshi's direction.

Sighing and going off to let Skafria in from outside, Darkmark grabbed his cloak from where he had hung it the previous day and put it back on as a shivering Skafria came back in and steered as clear as he could from the other Yoshi. Darkmark's imagination ran wild as to what might have happened as he grabbed the tray of food and carried it over to the fire, taking a seat in one of the big chairs.

"He came by earlier, but I didn't want to wake you." The other Yoshi muttered, looking over to him as he took a bite out of an apple. "What's up with him though?"

"Vampire." Darkmark replied, before picking up a large watermelon. "Only this sword I've got is any good against him."

"He doesn't seem to like being encased in ice, though."

"Would you?"

"Not really, now that you mention it…"

That was it for another few minutes as Darkmark made his way through the food, happy to have something relatively fresh and not the various preserved supplies in his saddlebags. "Where are you going?" she asked, and Darkmark jerked his thumb in the general direction they were headed.

"Into the mountains. You?"

"I'm just wandering."

Darkmark nodded, taking a bite out of a mango and licking up the juice that gushed out from it. It was a pity that as winter came in, fresh fruit would become a rarity until spring… looking out the window, he saw that the snow had abated to almost nothing, maybe a flake here and there.

"Are you an anthro?" he asked as he finished off his breakfast.

"No, no. Not unless I'm one-eighth anthro, and the hair is all that shows. Are you a dragon Yoshi?"

"No, I just took the wrong magic curse at the wrong time. Made my wings permanent and fused them to my back. Dragon Yoshies have scales anyway…"

"How do you know that?"

Darkmark realised what he'd said and gave a rather feeble "I just do…", trying to think of some way to steer the conversation elsewhere. "Sorry about what happened last night. I can't take him anywhere…"

"Ah, it's okay." She said. "I don't fancy becoming a vampire, but he didn't get me. What're you doing travelling with him, anyway?"

"Old friend. Took a bite, got injected, grew fangs and a taste for blood."

She nodded, and Darkmark rose, preparing to leave, waiting as Skafria paid for the meal before heading out the door. They barely got three yards away from the door before her voice called out to them to stop.

"Mind if I go with you?" she asked, and Darkmark did his best to keep a straight face.

"You? Come on, you're hardly cut out to even be in this kind of environment, let alone deep in the mountains with who-knows-what along with a vampire and a psychic. I mean, he's damned near invulnerable and I can hold my own, but you…"

He chuckled, but his eyes widened when he saw a bright red flare in her eyes, and he raised a psionic shield just in time to deflect a pair of heat beams from her eyes, sending the energy careening off up into the sky and out of sight.

"Okay, so you can do that, but it'll take more than-"

Next he found himself under an assault of water, fire, and electricity, as she alternated her hands to keep up a steady stream of projectiles, melting straight through the snow when her fireballs went astray, until Darkmark finally threw a psionic cable and wrapped it around her, pinning her arms to her body.

"Don't make me hurt you, okay? You're not comi-"

There was a little flash of light in her right hand, and Darkmark ducked to the side to avoid a poison pin she had thrown with a flick of her wrist, and in his fury he sent out a mass of thinner, smaller cables with his other hand, completely immobilising her.

"This isn't funny any more." Darkmark said, despite Skafria gaily chortling off to one side. "Just give it up and let us go, okay?"

"Why?" she asked, trying to shrug but receiving a painful jolt of energy as a result. She gave a little cry and Darkmark released her, keeping a charge in his hands in case he needed to raise a shield again.

"Fine, fine. Keep up with us if you can!"

He spread his wings and took off with Skafria close behind, leaving her in their wake in the snowdrift. Or so they thought; a few moments later she appeared between them with her arms held out in front of her, and no visible means of propulsion, travelling just as fast as they did. Darkmark dived down to the ground with the other two in close pursuit, landing near a wooden bridge spanning a crevasse at an entrance to the mountain range.

Folding her arms with a smug look, she waited patiently as Darkmark clenched and unclenched his fists, clearly annoyed that he had been bested not just by someone else, but a girl, probably who was probably even younger than he was. "Alright already!" he said, throwing his arms up in frustration. "You can come along. Just don't come crying to me if you get hurt!"

Her grin became even wider, and she stepped forwards with an outstretched hand. "Call me Yoshata. What's your name?"

"Darkmark." The brown Yoshi said sternly, taking her hand. "No remarks about my name and I won't make any about yours."

* * *

They managed to cover another few miles before the snow picked up again and drove them to the ground, forcing them to take cover in one of the many caves that seemed to be liberally scattered throughout the mountains. They had only seen a single large area specially cultivated for growing the medicinal plants the mountains were famous for; aside from there being very little flat land, the supply of the plants was carefully maintained so that the human-kingdom-owned plantation could keep the price high. Though the plants grew wildly within the mountains, getting them was more trouble than they were worth and at this time of year, they would have long since spread their seeds and wilted, waiting until spring to take root and come up from the ground.

Exploring further in and looking around the cave with a light ball, Darkmark saw it extending far underground, but a sudden drop and a large abyss made Darkmark have second thoughts about jumping down to see what lay within the cavern. Travelling back, he looked absent-mindedly at the walls as he walked, stopping suddenly when he found something scrawled on one of them…

Wiping away the snow that had drifted in, he found something inscribed in ancient Yoshi. However, he only knew a few words of it and certainly didn't know the sprawling symbols covering the wall; the old language had a symbol-based language with one for each word or idea, whereas the new one constructed every word from various letters like the common tongue did. Checking his saddlebags, he found a spare scrap of vaell, and took out his writing knife, copying the inscription as best he could…

No sooner had he copied the last symbol than he heard a sound from the way he had just come. It died off after a few moments, but came back again in the form of a loud rumble accompanied by a minor ground tremor, dislodging bits of dust and rock from the ceiling. Without another moment's pause, Darkmark took off for the exit, running as fast as he could.

* * *

"You're not normal."

"Is that any way to talk to a girl?" Yoshata said, keeping her eyes on Skafria.

"I mean, you're definitely not like either me or Darkmark. Whatever powers you have certainly aren't either Magic, Psionics, or Chi, so I'm damned if I know what they are…"

"Special fruit." She replied. "I ate it when I was younger and I got these powers."

"Any others?"

She gave a smirk. "If I told you them all, I'd have no surprises left to pull, would I?"

"I've learned my lesson." Skafria said bitterly. "I know better than to try and take a bite out of you. If we don't find anyone for a while, though, you'd better watch yourself…"

"Do you kill people you bite?"

He shook his head. "They only get knocked out and forget they were bitten. They just wake up later, unknowing, assuming I don't leave a huge set of fang marks…"

They heard a low rumble from behind them, and Darkmark appeared a few moments later, ushering them out of the cave as he ran past. A few scant moments after they got out the ceiling started to cave in as the ground shook beneath them and large clumps of snow rolled down the mountain towards where they were, getting larger due to the snowball effect, but passing by them harmlessly, still too small to be any major trouble.

"Everyone okay?" Darkmark asked, brushing himself off. "I guess this place is still seismically active…"

Skafria suddenly pointed to a rolling wall of snow coming down towards them, and Darkmark's instinctive reaction was to leap into the air, accompanied by his two companions, and they circled the spot until the snow had come to a halt.

"If we make it back out of here alive, I'm never leaving a city during the winter again." Darkmark growled to himself. "Who could have ever lived here, let alone built a temple…?"

**_To be continued…_**


	78. Chapter Seventy Seven: The Winged Ones

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 77 - The Winged Ones**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

The snowfall kept up its heavy onslaught, forcing them to walk what might have been a relatively short flight through the mountains, stopping in every cave they could find to warm up and rest. Skafria seemed to be most annoyed, not because of the cold, but because there wasn't anyone around he could bite, and gave Darkmark an angry look every so often to make this clear to him. Darkmark went exploring as much as he could, but couldn't find any sign of what he was looking for, nor any more inscriptions on the walls. However, as they drove deeper into the nigh-impassable terrain, he could feel something off in the distance… something powerful, beckoning to him…

He was starting to lose hope, hope that faded along with the feeling in his arms and legs. He was forced to squint as they forged their way through the mountains, holding a hand up to protect his face, and he couldn't tell where Skafria and Yoshata were – if they were even still behind him. He kept looking to the side, hoping to see a cave, but visibility was poor and the cold was getting to him…

_I can't die here_, he thought. _I'm not done yet… I survived a vampiric wizard and a high-ranked assassin, I can survive a little snow_…

Those words echoed though his mind as he fell into the freezing white blanket on the ground, too numb to get up or call out…

* * *

Tsi-Lau, however, was not so bothered by the cold. Having grown up in a city covered in snow the year round, and now with her vampiric protection and her chi to aid her, it didn't bother her in the slightest as she followed them. Having set off a day later than they did, she ate away at their lead by flying longer than they did and stopping not as often. Already she was entering the mountains, ignoring the snow trying to push her back.

She had merely left without being seen or noticed, assuming she would be taken for dead when her sensei's body was found and hers was not. She didn't care any more… she only had one thing to carry out, the one thing Darkmark had committed against her sensei… vengeance. She couldn't and wouldn't hurt Skafria, but Darkmark could fall to her if she took him by surprise… and perhaps Skafria would sympathise with her, for their common distinctions as vampires would make them singled out, unable to live normal lives…

She thought of her sensei's note and what had been written therein. The last words bothered her… a sign that even she had had her problems, that as an assassin she had feelings she could never show to anyone, not even herself…

'_I love you, Valina_.'

What had she meant by that? Tsi-Lau hoped that it was a platonic expression of thanks for her friendship and understanding, but at the same time that explanation seemed insufficient… but the thought of what deeper meaning those words might have had sent a chill through Tsi-Lau's nerves, and she continued onwards, forcing herself to think of other things, like the upcoming conflict with Darkmark… if she could ever find him…

* * *

Darkmark felt something soft against his skin. He was so warm and comfortable, he was sure he was dreaming he was back in his home in the Shoreside Village. So long ago it seemed, before his life had taken a horrid turn… any moment now, Alziana would come and rouse him from his rest, urging him to go play with her outside in the sunshine, or come and see a surprise she had for him… perhaps to ask him yet again if she could accompany him on his next journey into the forest… or maybe it was cold outside, and she wanted to snuggle with him for warmth… but whatever reason she might have had for being there, her presence always made him happy…

Or maybe he was with Shiala again in the hotel in Corvan, having only dreamt the most horrid nightmares of what would happen to them both… she would be next to him, waiting for him to wake up so she could cuddle him and kiss him, so bright and cheerful, always optimistic…

The memories brought a small smile to his face, but it quickly faded when he forced himself to open his eyes and look around to see where he was. Evidently he was in a cave, but there was a fire nearby and he was underneath a large pile of blankets, lying as close as he could without any risk of the fire setting them alight. He could see Skafria slumped against one wall of the cave, apparently dozing, and after sitting up he spotted Yoshata lying on her side wrapped in blankets similar to the ones he had.

A call from behind him caught his attention, and he turned to see a dark blue Yoshi, darker than Skafria, standing straight with a spear in his right hand. Upon his back was a set of magnificent, fluffy white Yoshi wings, folded neatly, giving him a very proud and majestic look as he stood in place.

"Glad to see you regained consciousness. Another few minutes, and the frostbite would have been too severe for your recovery…"

"Where am I?"

"You're inside our aerie. It's the only place we are safe any more… if the humans wish to cull yet more of our kind, they must scale over a thousand feet of sheer rock first without being spotted, and none so far have come close. Your friends tried to carry you, but they didn't get far before one of our scouts spotted them and called some help… you're very lucky to still be alive."

"I… uh… thank you." Darkmark stammered. "How many…?"

"Not so many." The winged one replied. "It's dangerous up here, but infinitely less so than on the ground where they can get us. This network of caves is being tunnelled further into the mountain all the time, but even so our numbers do not grow by that much… we have looked for another site to set up a second aerie, but as of yet no suitable areas have been found… and it's hard to sustain the people we already have up here. We grow those medicinal plants to keep us healthy, but they are unsuitable as food, and we rely on a good store of food to last us the winter…" He sighed. "But, it has come early this year and looks like it may last longer than we expected. Extinction is not an option, but I hate for us to have to resort to theft…"

"Are you the leader?"

"No, no." He said, shaking his head. "I'm old enough to be; a hundred and twelve years, but the leader is older than most of us. I know him well, but he left quite a few days ago with some of our comrades to look for supply carts… to have any chance of finding them, he'll have to go quite a ways out, and if he's found… well, I try not to think of that. He will not be back any time soon even if he is successful, and it is not something he wanted to do either, but… given that or letting ourselves starve to death…"

He coughed twice, shivering a little and exhaling a stream of breath that condensed in the cold air. "My name is Karva, by the way."

"Just Darkmark will do…"

He nodded, resting his spear against the wall for a moment to rub his hands together in an attempt to warm himself up. "I miss my family. I had a wife and two children, but the humans caught the little ones and my beloved died in an avalanche. It pains me so much to say goodbye to them, even this long after, but I must do my part to keep us going… I have some idea of how the ferals feel now, never able to settle down with just one person because of their limited numbers."

"I knew a feral once…" Darkmark said sadly. "She too died, ultimately at the hands of the humans, but directly from an anthro."

The winged Yoshi took a deep breath, narrowing his eyes slightly. "They used to live along with us. We coexisted here in the mountains for our own survival, but they betrayed us to try and ensure their own safety… and they never got it either. Now they are as far into the mountains as you can go, clinging desperately onto their hope, wondering, like us, why we have to suffer so… yes, they brought it upon themselves, and they did inadvertently send many of us to our deaths, but nobody deserves what we or they have to put up with…"

There was a low rumble, and he looked down a passage to his left, from which the most natural light came, as opposed to that from the fire. "Another earthquake… they have never been this frequent before. I wonder if there are any dormant volcanoes in this mountain range. It's a horrid place to be in, let alone live in. Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for the Underworld entrance."

"Why? Not even the snow stays there. The land and air around it is poisoned with evil. I have seen it once from the sky, and do not wish to again."

"I'm not really looking for it directly." Darkmark said, correcting himself. "I just need it as a reference point… I'm actually looking for some ruins nearby, but I don't know where they are."

"Ah, the psychics… unfortunately, unlike us or the Anthros, they didn't make it… why, are you an archaeologist?"

"No." Darkmark said bluntly. "I'm a psychic."

To emphasise his point he brought up his right hand, surging with energy he charged, and released it with a flash of light in the form of a fireball, aimed to deliberately miss the Yoshi and hit the ceiling, which it did. A scorch mark appeared, barely noticeable, and the winged one looked at it in awe before turning back to Darkmark. Before he could say anything, the brown Yoshi removed the Octagram from his saddlebags, and flicked it up into the air with his thumb, watching it sparkle in the light of the fire before catching it and putting it back in his saddlebags.

The effect was not quite one which he had expected. Dropping his spear, the winged Yoshi fell to his knees and looked up to the ceiling, with one hand on his chest and the other held upwards. "By the gods, we are saved!" he cried, "The saviour has come!"

He bent over onto his front and looked up at Darkmark. "If there is anything we can do for you, please, do not hesitate to ask!"

Darkmark waved his hand impatiently. "No, no, it's fine. All I ask for are the directions to the underworld and a little more time to sleep…"

"Of course, of course." He murmured, getting back to his feet, and scurrying off down into the network of passages.

Darkmark slumped onto his side and drifted off again. As he became calm he felt the presence again of an immense power, closer now, calling for him to come to it… pulling him towards it…

"Soon…" he murmured, "I will find you… and you will be mine… and all shall burn at my feet…"

**_To be continued…_**


	79. Chapter Seventy Eight: Temptation

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 78 - Temptation**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Oddly enough, Darkmark dreamt he was flying, only it was warm outside, the sun shone down upon him, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky between him and it… he flew upwards, trying to see how far he could go, and the sun rapidly moved around the land beneath him, replaced by one of the moons of Chyrus within a short space of time. Onwards he flew, reaching for the stars, wondering what lay beyond the empty void of space that he could look up and see on every clear night…

Suddenly, all went black, and when he tried to stop his feet touched down on a large stone platform. A moment later there was a flash, and the seven Light Gods appeared before him, illuminated within a single large circle of light.

"Stop!" One of them warned – but the voice was slightly distorted and Darkmark couldn't tell who was talking. "You don't know what you're doing, Saviour!"

"Turn back, before it is too late…" A female voice for sure, but he didn't know whose it was. "Don't fall to the darkness…"

"It is already too late." Darkmark answered, his own voice slightly warped, as though it were underwater. "I cannot return now. I have chosen my path… this is my destiny…"

He knew it was Eirsir this time because he could see his mouth move. "We can return what was taken from you – but not if you are evil, not if you are a Dark God!"

"No, you can't." Darkmark said quietly. "Nobody can do that. Not even the Light Gods can give life to the dead…"

"Find the altar!" Someone cried – a high voice. "Find it and you can take them back… but you can only find it if your heart is pure, if you fight your evil temptations…"

They faded away, dissipating into the blackness, and Darkmark found himself flying among the stars.

* * *

Travelling at many times the speed that Darkmark and his comrades had mustered, Tsi-Lau managed to stumble upon their tracks while it was still light, and followed them right up to the point where they mysteriously stopped. There were several other footprints around one spot, and she looked up to the sky, brushing snow from her eyelashes as more of it fell all around her. Something was moving up there, but before she could work out what it was, something hit the ground behind her, and in a reflex she spun around, drawing her swords.

However, she found only a single winged Yoshi standing with a spear in his hand, flexing his wings gently. "Another traveller." He mused, sweeping snow from his reddish skin. "Are you looking for shelter? Our aerie is just above here, I can carry you up if you want…"

* * *

Skafria snapped awake as he sensed something, getting closer, something enticing… something… familiar…

Looking around, he saw his travelling companions slumped on the floor between various blankets, sleeping away, but they weren't the source of what had alarmed him. He sniffed at the air, but caught nothing distinctive, and headed towards the brighter cave exit, turning through the grid-system of tunnels to try and find what was giving him this feeling…

"Well, there you are."

Skafria stopped and turned around to see Tsi-Lau standing right behind him, and he clenched his fists, glaring at her. "So, you somehow survived that night… Why are you here, then? Come to kill Darkmark?"

"Yes, but… that's only a secondary thing now." She said, keeping her arms folded. "Would you really care that much if I killed him?"

"Yes, of course. He's my friend. Granted, we're a bit distant now, but…"

"But, he's not like you… I am… you and me, we're different from everyone else… wherever we go, we'll be shunned… we won't have anyone to turn to… and he doesn't understand you, does he? Would he let you bite someone here if you needed to? Does he let you drink freely?"

"No…" Skafria replied honestly, looking off to one side. "But he has some justification…"

"No he doesn't. You don't stop him from eating the food he needs to stay alive, why should you let him do the same to you?"

"What are you trying to do?" Skafria asked, looking up to her.

"I'm trying to make you see sense. You don't have to follow him… we can go together, living by our own laws, doing what we want…"

Skafria folded his arms. "I suppose you want me to help you kill Darkmark, then? Because I won't-"

"Not at all." She whispered, taking a step forward. "Just stay with me… two vampires are better than one…"

She shuffled forwards ever so slightly so that their noses touched, then put a hand on his chest and ran it across his skin, under his cloak, up and over his shoulders, down his back…

"What do you want?" he asked dryly.

"I want you to stay here, and not move. I'm going to go see Darkmark, then come back…"

"You can't kill him. Can't you see that? But he can easily banish you, and would you want that to happen?"

"No, but I always take precautions." She whispered. "Illusions aren't working on him any more, but I have other tricks that will… just stay here, don't interfere, and whether I succeed or not we can go back, leave this forsaken place, and rule our own lives… nobody to tell us what to do, nobody to tell us who we can and cannot drink from, and nobody to care about except each other…"

"It's a deal." Skafria said quietly, after a moment's thought.

* * *

Stretching and yawning as he awoke, Darkmark pondered silently over his dream before sitting up and stretching his wings, noting the absence of Skafria, and also that Yoshata had woken up, and was staying near the fire for warmth.

"You okay?" she asked, and he nodded back.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He murmured, getting his things together from the pile next to him. As he picked up his sword by its sheath it tipped over, and the blade slid partway out, giving off a near-blinding light when it did so, forcing Darkmark to try and put it back with his eyes closed.

_Odd… _he thought,_ it's only done that once before… but then, that was because there were TWO vampires, not just one, so why…?_

His thoughts were interrupted by a chunk of ice flying over his head, and Darkmark turned in the direction it came from. "You're a very unpredictable person, you know that?"

"Look out!" Yoshata shouted, ignoring the remark, and Darkmark turned his head back in time to see Tsi-Lau's body partly concealed by shadows, aiming a throwing star at him, and he rolled off to one side as she threw it. It missed him and hit the floor as he leapt to his feet, sword in hand, but the blinding light made it hard for him to see anything as he squinted his eyes.

"Why can't you just stay dead!" he roared, partly in rage, partly in surprise. "I don't care what it takes, I'm going to kill you this time if I have to destroy this entire mountain!"

Sheathing the sword to free up his hands and allow himself to see, he lashed out at her with a cable of energy, latching onto her body before she was able to pull another item from her saddlebags. Quickly turning his body, he flung her against one of the far walls with such force that several chunks of rock fell when she hit it, but it didn't seem to hurt her despite the fact she was still winded by the impact. The second cable missed her as she dodged to the side, but when Darkmark wrenched the cable back it pulled a rock out of the wall and it slammed into her, breaking into fragments as it struck her body, knocking her back without injury.

Lunging forwards, he put a charge of energy around his shoulder as he rammed into her, sending her flying backwards amidst purple and white sparks, dislodging more rocks as she hit the wall, and even more when he planted a flying kick against her chest in what would have been a fatal strike against a normal opponent. Seeing his chance, he pulled out the sword and swung it in the same movement, but she leapt upwards and grabbed hold of the rock ceiling, pulling her body up out of the path of the swipe, before scuttling across the ceiling like a spider, aided by her chi. Sheathing the sword again, Darkmark watched as a twin-beam of ice from Yoshata's eyes hit her and knocked her down, but she broke free quickly, scattering fragments of frozen water over the stone floor. Turning to her new adversary by instinct, she was hit hard on the side of her head by a running punch from Darkmark, followed up by a kick to the stomach so forceful from the added power of his psionic energy that she went flying up into the ceiling, slamming into it hard before falling down again

As Darkmark attempted to strike with the sword once more, she brought her legs up behind her fast enough to make her roll forwards, leaping to her feet in time to take a blast of superheated fire-beams, and this time she gave a loud shriek as she stumbled backwards against a wall, getting up and running as fast as she could down the nearest passage, bearing a large but minor burn across her white chest.

The brown Yoshi sheathed the sword and panted, feeling tired from the sudden exertion and the masses of energy he had put into every attack. How had she survived the attack in Corvan, and where was Skafria? Darkmark didn't care much for the answers to those, sitting down to recuperate. He was more interested in why her protection had failed her at that moment in time, but not before then…

* * *

Skafria was just as surprised to see her return with a patch of charred skin on her chest, wincing in pain. "It's nothing, I can heal it with my chi… but I-I'm so weak…" she gasped, "I need food… I haven't been drinking enough, and they drained my strength… and that last attack got partway through…"

She collapsed into his arms, and he tried to hold her up. "Okay, look, there are Yoshies all around us, surely we can find somebody here to feed from. All we need is to find someone alone…"

"Yes, please, I beg of you… I need food, I need blood, please…"

"Okay, okay." Skafria replied, hauling her up to support her on his shoulders. Sighing as he started to walk, he looked back down the corridor towards the chamber Darkmark was in, saying a silent goodbye in his mind.

_Darkmark, don't take this the wrong way. I've not betrayed you… I'm just moving on. Our village has been avenged, and now it's time for us to take our separate paths in life… perhaps I'll meet you again, I don't know…_

_And if you're lucky… I'll be able to stop her from trying to kill you again…_

**_To be continued…_**


	80. Chapter Seventy Nine: The Birds And The ...

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 79 - The Birds and the Butterflies**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

Walking around on her own, Yoshata found herself at the entrance to the aerie, a thousand feet above the ground, overlooking a massive valley between the mountain she was on and the next one over. The snow was lighter than before and she could see a fair distance, though the cloud did eventually obstruct the view of the seemingly endless mountaintops.

Turning around, she saw the same dark blue Yoshi that had helped them before walking in from the aerie entrance, pushing aside the heavy fur hangings designed to try and stop the cold getting in. He still had his spear but was now wearing a thick leather gauntlet about his left hand, and greeted her as he stood on the edge of the overhang just above the sheer drop back to the ground.

"As much as I hate the winter, the snow always makes everything look so serene…" he mused, casting his eye across the view. "Just goes to show how something so pretty can be so deadly…"

She nodded. "It doesn't bother me so much, but it's such a horrid season that most creatures just sleep through it…"

"Ah, if only I could do that." Karva murmured. "It'd be so much easier…"

Silence held for a moment, before he looked up to the sky, scanning for something. Apparently finding nothing, he turned his attention back to her. "Life is hard out here, but we can't give up… some day we will be rewarded, either in my lifetime, or someone else's…"

Looking up again, he apparently saw something and held out his left arm in front of him. Yoshata looked up to try and see what he had noticed, but before she could a large eagle soared down from the side and perched on Karva's arm, digging its talons into the gauntlet. It had something tied around its leg, and he removed it with care before lifting up one of his wings to take a bit of food out of his saddlebags, giving it to the eagle, who took it graciously and flew off again, leaving a single feather behind.

Unfolding the message he had recovered, Karva scanned it quickly, his melancholy frown turning into a smile as he did so. "News from the leader… he's been successful, and he's bringing us back enough food to last us another month, if we stretch it a bit. It'll take him awhile to get here, but in this kind of weather he won't need to worry about it spoiling, that's for sure…"

He folded up the note and tucked it inside his saddlebags before going inside, stopping just behind the fur hangings where it was marginally warmer. Yoshata held back a moment to pick up the feather the eagle had left behind, before following him, looking at the markings on it as she did so.

"The birds are our friends and allies…" Karva explained, hanging his gauntlet up on a hook embedded in the wall. "We share food and living space with them, and in return, they act as our messengers and warn us of any predators coming our way that our scouts may not see."

Yoshata turned the feather over, careful not to break apart the locked fibres that made it virtually waterproof. "Surely it's too cold for them at this time of the year?"

"Yes, but when we venture out beyond the aerie, we'll take a bird or two with us to send back if we need to. We used to keep bees, too, back when we lived on the ground… but that was a while ago. I miss those times… the sweet taste of fresh honey, fruits picked straight from the trees we grew them on… we can't have any of that now… for a while we tried to get some from the anthros, but then they too were pushed further from the inhabited lands…"

He sighed, expelling a stream of breath from his nostrils, watching it condense in the air. "The leader had a daughter a long time ago, and she visited the anthros, eventually falling in love with one of them. I don't know if she's still alive or not, but she was there when they were attacked, and we haven't heard from her since… perhaps, in the spring, I shall go see if I can find where the anthros are now, and how they are faring, locked firmly to the ground, unlike us…"

Turning to leave, he forced a small smile. "But now that the saviour has arrived, surely all will be set right…"

* * *

Darkmark had stayed indoors, exploring the network of tunnels and caverns, taking a look inside each to find out what they contained. Most were bedrooms, but there were food storage rooms, a room with a hole in the ceiling that snow and light filtered through, presumably used to grow plants in given that the floor was coated in dirt, a room containing spears much like Karva's, and a room full of various tools used for digging deeper into the mountain. Light was provided further down by torches on the walls, but Darkmark found it easier to hold up a light ball, since the torches didn't provide much illumination and Karlo-Shin's sword didn't provide that much illumination right now…

Finding an end to the path he was taking, he doubled back and took another, stumbling upon a comparatively large chamber well lit by candles and torches. Apparently a place of worship, there was a blueish-purple winged Yoshi wearing an Octothesian scarf knelt between an altar and a small shrine carved into the wall, containing statuettes of all the seven Light gods, plus Klashkna. Whispering under her breath in Yoshian, the Yoshi prayed aloud, though Darkmark could only hear snippets of what she was praying for – food for the aerie, a short winter, freedom from the threat of the humans – all things that they should have had, but didn't, through no fault of their own…

"_Khílhóren ohn kayín ki_." Darkmark said softly, putting a hand on the Yoshi's shoulder. She started abruptly, but stood slowly, moving her hand across her chest in symbolism of the emblem of Octotheism, before putting a hand on his chest to bless him.

"Welcome, my friend." She said, drawing her hand back. "May the gods be with you on this day. What can I help with?"

"Do you have a copy of the _Fayen_?" Darkmark asked.

"But of course." She replied, turning to the shrine behind her and taking the thick book from a shelf near the bottom. The leather cover was showing signs of age further mitigated by the cold, but despite that it looked well cared-for, and the golden Yoshian letters engraved on the cover seemed as bright as if they were new.

He took the holy book from her and placed it gently on the altar, gingerly opening it as he scanned the pages for the answer to a question that had been plaguing him for a long time – what was the Marble Altar he had heard of, and the legend behind it?

He couldn't find it in the largest part of the holy book, the legends of the Gods and Saviours, and skipped past the Commandments and Rituals, stopping in the part before the Prayers, in the section of various Octhotheist Lore, scanning the cut-vaell pages as fast as he could for any mention of it.

"Are you a traveller?" She asked as he searched, her breath condensing in the freezing air.

"Yes, I'm just passing by. A winged one named Karva saved me."

She smiled gently as he continued to turn the pages. "I know him, he's a good friend of our leader. He rambles a lot, but he hasn't had anyone to talk to since his family died, so he's lonely… my own husband died too, when the humans came, protecting my daughter. She escaped, but he was surrounded and killed…"

Darkmark paused momentarily, looking over to her. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She smiled anyway, brushing away the faintest trace of a tear at the corner of her eye. "It's okay, I still have her… she's a handful, but most Yoshi kids are, so bubbly and hyperactive… but that's what makes them so much fun to raise. Butterfly, I called her… when she hatched, I didn't have a name ready, but when I took her outside she always used to be fascinated by the butterflies, watching them flit by, and she'd run around chasing them until they flew away… those days are gone now, and she just sits in her room huddled under her blankets, painting on whatever vaell she can get her hands on to pass the time and take her mind off of her hunger…"

Darkmark gritted his teeth as he read onwards, an internal conflict raging within him; he was supposed to be evil now, a Dark-God-to-be, but he felt pity for these winged Yoshies, and he dearly longed to help them…

_I can do both_, he thought, _I can use whatever powers Karlo-Shin will bestow on me to force the humans away so that the winged ones can return to the lands they used to live on… like Vachez said, it's not what the followers of the darkness wanted that was so bad, just that they took innocent lives to do so…_

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the words 'Marble Altar', and backtracked to the start of the story. Apparently the Marble Altar had been made by Eirsir to bring himself back if he died whilst on the mortal plane, but it turned out that he didn't need to do that as even if he were killed, his godly powers would save him from being kept in the afterlife forever. However, it was known that it was possible to bring someone back from the afterlife, and the rumour circulated, though the exact location of the altar and the temple it was in were lost in the mists of time. According to the legend, only a true follower of the light with a pure heart could use the altar to ascend the path to the afterlife in such a way as to be able to come back again, 'whilst curtains of light hang in the sky and a trail of colours spirals up to the stars…'

Seeing what he was reading, the priestess piped up, "Have you, too, lost someone that you love?"

"Yes." Darkmark murmured. "Twice now my heart has been torn asunder by the death of a true love, and I seek like anyone in this situation for some way to talk to them, some way to bring them back…"

"I wish you luck, then." She said, stepping back a little. "Nobody has found it yet, and it's been millennia since Eirsir created us, setting us free onto the lush, green lands of Chyrus…"

Darkmark shook his head. "Where did it all go wrong?"

"With the Lord of Darkness." Came the reply. "In his blind lust for supremacy, all of the gods were drained of their power and we were sentenced to live under the rule of the humans… 'tis a lesson for all of us not to thirst for dominance, excessive power… or anything in excess, for that matter…"

Darkmark remained silent. Yes, he was trying to obtain power too… but for a different cause; to help his fellow Yoshies… and he wasn't killing innocent people to do it…

_I can right the mistakes other people have made. They weren't my fault, but I live with the consequences, and I can use any means necessary to undo what has been done…_

"May the gods be with you." The priestess called out as he turned to leave.

**To be continued…**


	81. Chapter Eighty: Vampire And Vampiress

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 80 - Vampire and Vampiress**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"Come on, drink up…"

Skafria gently pushed Tsi-Lau towards the unconscious Yoshi, and she stumbled forwards, weak from hunger. They were in an out-of-the-way room within the aerie, and Skafria had easily snuck up on him, biting him before he had even realised that Skafria was a vampire, and he never would now…

"Don't drink too much, though." He murmured, as she inserted her fangs into the two puncture wounds Skafria had inflicted. "You don't want to kill him…"

She paused to speak, taking her fangs out momentarily. "I'm an assassin, killing someone is nothing to me…"

"You're not an assassin any more. You don't have to take any more innocent lives…"

"I've always taken that path. It's the only one I know. I've killed innocents already, if I am doomed, there is nothing I can do about it…"

"But you can." Skafria whispered as she put her fangs into the wounds and began to suck blood from the punctured vein on the Yoshi's neck. "For every innocent life that you could take, but don't, you will gain favour with the gods, I assure you…"

"It doeshn't matter." She gurgled, slurping up the Yoshi's blood ravenously. "I'm not going to die, sho I can… mmm… do whatever I want to… ohh, this ish good shtuff…"

"Just drink enough to get you healthy again." Skafria urged once more. "We can find more food later, I'm sure, if we head back towards the inhabited lands."

"We're not." She said calmly, taking another slurp. "We're going to keep going into the mountains…"

"Why?" Skafria inquired, gently but firmly taking hold of her shoulders and pulling her away from the body after another few moments. "I thought we were…"

She shook her head. "Later. I have a little Guild story I want to pursue, and I need to find the anthros, and I might look into checking the Underworld entrance while I'm at it…"

Skafria sighed as he picked up the winged Yoshi and put him on the bed in the corner of the room, taking out his sword and successfully casting a magic healing spell on his second attempt. "If only you hadn't attacked Darkmark, we could have all gone together."

"And have him controlling us and our feeding habits?" She asked.

The blue vampire turned to face his companion. "You've barely been feeding as it is, from the looks of it. In this kind of environment, we need lots of Volzia to protect us from the cold, and whatever else lurks here…"

She stepped up to him and looked into his eyes. "I still have my reasons for not wanting to go with him. Besides, back when Shiala was alive, I always liked you over your friend Marcus…"

"I remember you helping me hobble through that mountain range on my broken leg, I guess I should return the favour…"

She chuckled. "We've got a lot in common. Both undead, brought back by the same vampire, freed from his control by the same person… whether or not you want to leave Darkmark, I assure you, you won't regret your decision."

With a smirk, he quipped, "I also remember joking with Shiala that if you ever offered me any, I'd take it without hesitation…"

Placing one hand on her back and the other on her fins, he pulled her forwards abruptly and kissed her, licking the last droplets of blood from her fangs, before connecting his lips to hers and giving her a single kiss, before breaking off and staring into her eyes again.

"Let's go now, my little vampiress, before Darkmark comes and banishes us both…"

"Yes, let's make haste…" she agreed. "Without him slowing us down we should be able to make good time, provided we can fly…"

* * *

"Oh, hey there." Darkmark muttered, nearly bumping into Yoshata as he rounded a corner. "I'm preparing to go. The snow's a little lighter now. Do you have all your stuff?"

She nodded, patting her saddlebags, and followed him back to the entrance. "I haven't found Skafria anywhere, but my sword… well, it reacts to his presence, and it keeps getting dimmer. I think both he and that other silver assassin are running away. So long as they keep running, I'm fine with that…"

"I can't say I miss him." She whispered. "At least I won't have to sleep with one eye open any more…"

Karva was waiting at the entrance to the aerie, and waved to them as they headed for the outdoors. "Are you leaving, o saviour…?"

Darkmark nodded, and the winged one followed suit, a little sadly. "You have given me the hope I need to keep going… please, give that to the rest of our people, I beg of you."

The brown Yoshi nodded once, but said nothing, fanning out his wings from under his cloak majestically. "Which way should I go?"

"South-south-west." Karva said, pointing in the general direction with his spear. "You will know when you have reached it. May Karshina give you her blessing, saviour…"

"And may the gods be with you." Darkmark replied, casting a final glance back to the cold, malnourished Yoshi, before heading out into the snowfall with Yoshata close behind, diving through cloud layers to gain speed before levelling off and banking sharply, turning in the direction he wanted to go…

* * *

The fire cast a dim glow into the dark night, and the smoke rose up to the black sky in a straight line until the wind picked up and blew it off to one side. The rocky ledge they were taking shelter behind gave plenty of cover from the wind, not to the vampires, or Darkmark and Yoshata, but to a group of twenty soldiers in their distinct metallic red armour.

The leader of the band of humans was a redheaded knight, though his helmet didn't allow his hair colour to show. His armour was bitterly cold, but mercifully it was padded on the inside, showing the foresight of its designer, who had made it especially for cold-weather usage. He and his men were resting for the night as per usual; four on guard, the rest sleeping. There were plenty of nocturnal creatures out in the mountains that would delight to find a late night snack, and currently it was his job to stop that from happening. The winter made their appearances next to none, but only last night had an errant snow-white wolf tried and failed to slip into their encampment. Its pelt would go back with them to be sold wherever a decent price was offered. The leader had enough sense about him not to let an opportunity like that go to waste.

But first they had an assignment to carry out. He was more used to hacking through dense forests and jungles, searching out feral encampments, but the mountains posed a different challenge that he felt eager to take on. His serrated, five-foot, two-handed sword was encrusted with the blood of those he had slain, and he never cleaned it for posterity, making it into a personal treasure of his. Emblazoned upon his right breastplate was something he was equally proud of; the crest that signified his position as one of the kingdom's Dragon Slayers, a Yoshi egg with a sword through it, cracked and leaking albumen.

Originally created long ago as the Dragoons to fight off the lesser dragons in the old days, they had since become a small battalion of expert fighters whose sole military purpose was the mass persecution and execution of the minority Yoshi races – ferals, winged ones, the anthros that refused to submit to the kingdom, and the dragon Yoshies… though his father had gotten rid of them years ago. Though their results were often found, the soldiers themselves were good at covert operations, and had never yet been caught in the act, preventing a mass backlash of anger from the rest of the Yoshies.

He came from a long line of famous Dragon Slayers. His great-grandfather had killed the last psionics-using ferals, his grandfather most of the winged ones, his father the dragons, and on this mission, he would wipe out the anthros. The remaining winged ones had taken shelter somewhere among the mountaintops, and it would take a lot of trained men to reach them, a task that would have to wait, until there were enough Dragon Slayers, or they discovered a spell allowing people to fly…

Sometimes it was easier than others – he had his orders, after all, and it depended upon who he was killing. It was always his order to kill as many of the adults as possible, males preferably, and then move on to the children that were left. Various Yoshian communities had fallen to his band of soldiers, ruthless, merciless, and ever efficient, exploiting surprise and superior training to emerge victorious with lesser numbers.

They made it easier for him when they resisted, and harder when they fled… but none ever survived. Having just come back from a mission beyond Corvan, in the Yoshian lands – a daring assault, and amazingly successful – he had expected to rest and recuperate back in the capital's many entertainment houses and brothels, but was surprised to find a dispatch awaiting him almost immediately, which he had accepted without question. Obedience had gotten him his rank, and he intended to keep it.

There was a loud snap to his right, and he looked over, hearing three matching sets of metallic noises as his comrades did the same in their bulky armour. They drew their swords as he collected a burning log from the fire, holding it up to cast light as they headed in the direction of the noise, past the tent the others were sleeping in.

"Sir, over there." One of them whispered, and he took the lead. They watched and waited, patient, until he spotted a flash of movement and threw the log in that direction.

There was a shrill, female scream, and the light illuminated a pinkish body with humanlike proportions, but a Yoshi's head – an anthro. Smirking, the three knights charged as the leader remained behind, waiting as they brought her back, firmly within their grasp.

"Well, well, well!" he said, "An anthro… with wings! They're crossbreeding now!"

"Let me go, you brutes!" she shouted, struggling fruitlessly. She looked up and spotted the Dragon Slayer's crest, and her eyes widened in horror.

"Shall we kill her, sir?" one of them asked.

"No." The leader replied. "We'll interrogate her first…"

She had light pink skin and reddish hair like his, except that while his was rough all the time, helmet or not, hers was sleekly combed to the sides of her head, partially covering one of her eyes. Aside from her head, hands, and tail, the rest of her was bundled up under clothing, with one of those black, white-stitched scarves around her neck, and that weird symbol on the bottom of each end of the scarf. Maybe he could sell her clothing too, when he got back…

"You're obviously a crossbreed, and since I don't think that there'd be an anthro at the top of a mountain, you must be from an anthro village. Tell us where it is."

"I'd rather die!" she spat. "We'll never side with you again – never!"

"Alright, you made me do this." He said darkly.

Reaching forwards, he pulled off her clothing with help from the third soldier, as the other two stopped her from fighting back. She started to shiver as she was left standing in only her boots, holding her hands across her body to cover herself up from the lecherous eyes of the humans, who had let her go, knowing she wouldn't run only to freeze but a few yards away.

"Tell us." He whispered menacingly, "Or we'll keep your clothes, and you'll freeze to death in this godforsaken wasteland.

"I'm n-not a-afraid of y-you." She whispered. "Y-you… m-murderer…"

"I am many things, but a murderer is not one of them." He replied, his smirk growing wider as she collapsed in the near-zero temperatures. "I am merely water, purifying the land…"

"A-And when y-you're done with us, y-you'll move o-on to th-the rest of the Y-Yoshies…"

"Perhaps." He said slyly. "Perhaps. Would you rather freeze, or die by the sword?"

He drew his sword and held it against her body, ever so carefully dragging the tip over her white chest, using the sharp, serrated edge to push her arm away when she tried to stop him, bringing the edges up beneath her nose. "Ah, such a beautiful body, in a way… it would be such a shame to let it go to waste…"

He snickered once, and the other soldiers followed suit, breaking into a loud, malicious laugh that was silenced when one of them shouted and vanished from the light of the fire. He screamed from just outside the range of the light, and there was a loud hiss following a peak to his screaming, before he went silent.

As one, the remaining soldiers lowered their visors and held their swords ready, pushing the Yoshi into the tent for the time being, and standing in a triangle with their backs to one another, so that they would not be taken by surprise. There was a snap as a twig broke, and they turned to look, allowing the soldier to the leader's right to also be dragged away in a different direction, screaming, though among the incoherent babble he managed a shout of "Demons! It's a va-", then when silent.

"Get the others." He hissed to the remaining soldier. Within moments the others were filing out of the tent as the leader stayed alert, looking for any signs of movement. Whatever was attacking him and had taken two of his men would not live to see the sun rise…

"Over there!" one cried, and half of them broke away and rushed the movement, as the remainder kept on watch. There was a loud metallic sound, and sparks flew, but the leader knew his men were not so incompetent to be fighting each other…

"Yoshi!" one of the men with him shouted, and suddenly he felt a large heavy object slam into him, knocking him to the side. He still had a grip on his sword, and swung it with all his might, biting into flesh and sending blood splashing onto his helmet – a personal accomplishment, in his eyes. Whatever he had hit gave a shriek of fury, and the soldiers attacking the other assailant were all thrown back at the same time, and the two instigators came into the light.

The one he had just hit was dark blue, his favourite colour to kill, and the other was white. The blue one had a diagonal gash along his chest from the serrated silver blade he carried, but the white one was unharmed, and was licking two large fangs as she moved in front of her friend as a shield. Struggling to get up, he watched as his men attacked and were beaten back, with one wielding a pair of swords and the other a single sword made from a material he couldn't identify. Whatever substance was oozing from the blue Yoshi was causing him grievous pain, but the leader was stuck in his heavy armour and couldn't get up off the floor, watching helplessly as his men were defeated.

"You okay?" the white one asked, a strange white energy pulsating around her hands – presumably what she had defeated his heavily armoured soldiers with. They weren't looking at him…

"That _kayatin_ got me. Must've been the leader, with a silver sword like that…"

"I can heal it. Let's make sure they're all dead before we start eating…"

_God's name… they_ are _vampires._ The human thought_. But I can't take on two… though I don't want to lose to a Yoshi. Although… one's wounded, and I can hurt them…_

They turned their heads simultaneously to look at one of the soldiers, who had groaned, and the leader seized his opportunity, rolling onto his front before jamming his sword into the ground, using it to get himself onto his feet, and attack before they knew what was happening. The point bit into the blue one's flesh, and he fell back with the sword embedded in him, pulling it from the human's hands. The white Yoshi immediately attacked him and struck out at him with a burst of energy, but it miraculously missed him and he ran into the darkness, heading for a cave he could wait in until they had gone. He'd be back, and he wouldn't die… not tonight…

**_To be continued…_**


	82. Chapter Eighty One: The Final Stretch

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 81 -The Final Stretch**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: I tried to put this up yesterday, but wouldn't let me, so it's late. But for once it's not my fault!_

"He's gone." Tsi-Lau murmured. He'd fled just as she had expected him to make a valiant last stand, and now she was in a predicament.

"I can't pull out the sword, Skafria…" she said calmly. "I can't even touch it…"

"But I'm going to die from Volzia loss!" he cried, writhing in pain, also unable to pull it out. It was burning him where it touched, and dark red Volzia was seeping out across the snow, perhaps enough for him to have lost his shielding already.

Tsi-Lau looked around, before deciding to check the tent. It was quite large, certainly big enough to hold all twenty soldiers at once, but the only occupant was a naked, winged anthro, using one of the sleeping bags to cover herself up and keep herself warm.

"Oh, thank the gods." Tsi-Lau whispered. "You, outside, if you value your life."

She briefly paused to show her both her fangs and the assassin's mark on her hand before dragging her out of the tent, pointing to Skafria. "Pull that sword out."

"Why can't you do it?" she asked, shivering.

"Just do it!" Tsi-Lau shouted, pushing her forwards with her hand.

She obliged, grabbing hold of the handle and pulling with all her strength, prompting a steadily louder cry from Skafria until the tip came free and she dropped it to the ground next to him. Tsi-Lau immediately bent over him and gently put her hands on his chest, using her chi to heal the wounds and force them to close, though she couldn't replace his lost Volzia. She kept her hand over the stab wound until it finally closed, and he sat up uneasily, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I thought I was a goner…" he gasped, before fixing his eyes on the anthro, who had wasted no time in gathering her clothes, putting her undershirt and sweater on in such a way as to allow her wings to pass through specially cut slots in them. Whereas on the winged Yoshies they were fixed to the midsection and folded over their lower back, on hers they were attached just below her shoulders and folded down her back, with the tips just touching the sides of her tail.

"Thank you…" she said to them. "They were going to kill me, I just wanted to get back home…"

"What're you doing out here, anyway?" Skafria inquired, her clothes not preventing him from letting his eyes wander. "You look… a little too fragile to be out here, not to mention…"

"My mother was a winged Yoshi." She said, answering Skafria's unasked question. "She fell in love with an anthro, and went to live with him. I'm her second child, and the younger sister… I was looking for these people, but not quite so up-close and personal."

"Dragon Slayers…" Tsi-Lau muttered, identifying the crest on one of the fallen guard's breastplates. "They're cowards. They only attack minority Yoshi groups, and they even kill hatchlings…"

"_Kayatinrá_." Skafria swore. "But at least there's a feast for us here, don't you think?"

Tsi-Lau smirked. "Yes, we can drink to our fill, but remember to slit their throats when you're done. We don't want to leave these cowards alive."

The anthro shivered. "Vampires…"

"We won't bite you." Skafria said placidly, even as he was bending over the neck of a soldier he had taken the helmet from. "We've got plenty of food here. Are you staying or leaving?"

"I think I'll leave. I just want to get home…"

"Wait." Tsi-Lau said, speaking up. "Where's your village? I need to talk to some anthros…"

She hesitated, but gave in, pointing further down the valley. "That way, not too far from here. These humans were too close for comfort…"

Obviously nervous, she turned on her heels and ran, taking off as soon as she built up enough speed, and vanishing into the night, leaving the two creatures of darkness to their midnight snacks…

* * *

On the opposite side of one of the smaller mountains, Darkmark and Yoshata had set up their own little camp within a sheltered cavern halfway up a sheer stone face, which had apparently once been the resting place of some other winged Yoshies, given the leftover camping gear and long-rotten supplies. There were no signs of the Yoshies themselves, so Darkmark could only assume that either the cold had gotten them outside, or the humans had…

He tried not to think about it, checking the stuff to see what was usable. None of the food was still edible, but there were scratchy woollen blankets buried beneath a thin layer of snow on the floor, and the tattered remnants of some less sturdy blankets that he used to make a fire. A cooking pot had been left, but the prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures had left it brittle and useless.

Yoshata had fallen asleep a while ago, and Darkmark envied her. Something was keeping him awake, and try as he might, he couldn't slip into a dream world no matter what he tried. He had even resorted to attempting various exercises to tire himself out, but they only served to keep him alert and awake, and he retired to the warmth of the blankets once more.

Gently, he tried to form a light ball to look around, but for some reason the enchantment went out of hand and created a flash of light that blinded Darkmark for a few seconds. Shaking his hand as static passed through it, he wondered what had happened, gently trying to bring a charge into his hands again. Something surged as he did so, and an enormous charge of energy, far more than he could contain, welled up inside of him before sparking off spontaneously in a purple flash that left him writhing in pain.

Once he had regained himself he reached back into his saddlebags, and took out the orange gem that Karlo-Shin had given him. It was pulsating slightly, and as he stared at it, its form seemed to shift and buzz a little, as though it were trying to simply disappear. He moved closer to try and get a better view, but it touched his nose and sent him spiralling into a trance…

* * *

"Ah, you're quite close, I can sense it." Karlo-Shin murmured in his low, dark voice. "Just a little bit further, and I promise you'll find it worth your while…"

"Ah, I-" Darkmark muttered, shaking his head, but was silenced as he cast his gaze over to the left of the altar he was on…

The other six Dark Gods were assembled around Klashkna, standing tall in all his glory with his reddish aura around his body and his staff in his hand, the edges of the blades encrusted in blood just like his fangs, claws, and talons. He gave a slow, high-pitched cackle, fixing his gaze upon Darkmark as he spoke. "Ah yes, my servant… but not just a servant any more, now a follower… it is good to see you again."

Darkmark remained silent, and Klashkna continued, "Yes, yes, yes, I possessed you back then for awhile, but it was merely a safeguard against the schemes of the Light 'Gods'… and it allowed me to help you discover your power, to unlock your psionic potential, or at least what you have now. You enjoyed it, though, didn't you? The destruction, the death… admit it. You enjoyed it, even if you weren't completely in control of your body when you did it…"

"Y-Yes." Darkmark answered. "It felt… satisfying… to give them back what pain they had given to me…"

Klashkna gave a loud cackle, echoing off of the walls of the church of death. "That's the spirit! Yes, you'll make a good Dark God, I can tell, even without peering into the future… and when the time comes, we eight will change the balance of the world…"

His eyes flared bright red just like the other Dark Gods, and his aura surged into twice its normal size. "No longer!" he shouted, his roaring voice carrying such force that the floor shook and the six around him fell back, "No longer will those filthy humans befoul our world! No longer will they hurt us and kill us, no longer will their corrupted kingdom have us under their thumb! We will pay them back in blood for all those they have killed, for all the innocent lives they stole!"

Darkmark thought to himself, _that's rich coming from you…_, but apparently Klashkna could read minds, and he pointed the staff at the ethereal form of the brown Yoshi.

"You think I am a hypocrite? I was doing what was right! Is it better to take a few innocent lives to gain the power to eliminate those who would kill thousands of innocents, or just let those thousands of innocents be slaughtered? I tried to gain the power to tip the balance of the world, and I was imprisoned in this fiery pit of insanity for my efforts! Every day we wait, the shattered sword of Eirsir makes the Light Gods lose just a little bit more of their power, and every day more of us are killed! Why, not more than a lunar cycle ago, the feral village where you met Shiala was torched and razed to the ground by the human kingdom's Dragon Slayers!"

Darkmark took a sudden sharp breath. "What!"

Calming down slightly, Klashkna's aura receded a little but his red eyes remained. Holding his free hand out in front of him, a misty circle in the air appeared, focusing into a scene on the upper world of destruction. Slain feral Yoshies lay sprawled across the ground, shattered eggshells were strewn among their contents, the simple tents they used to live in were burning, and not a single thing moved. The poses of the fallen Yoshies said it all; parents protecting their hatchling children, adults banding together to try and fight back with their meagre weaponry, baby Yoshies trying to flee… all killed with no remorse, no guilt, no pity…

Darkmark let out a deep growl that would have surprised even himself had he been listening, and brought such a charge of energy to his body that is snapped him out of the link to the Underworld. In his rage he crushed the orange gem into fragments, and was engulfed in a virtual cloud of static purple psionic energy, filling him with power he had never known before. In his rage he swung at the wall closest to him, putting all of the energy into the swing, and the immense power behind the blow knocked out a chunk of rock the size of a house, which went flying almost horizontally into the valley, sinking out of sight as it faded into the darkness.

The loud crash abruptly woke Yoshata, who sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Hopping up to her feet, she caught sight of Darkmark standing in front of the newly created cave exit, an expression of utter hatred and anger clear on his face, his wings tense, his fists clenched. He looked over his shoulder, and saw that the gem which had lain in pieces not a moment before was now whole again, without a crack to show what had befallen it. Darkmark picked it up and saddlebagged it, looking over to Yoshata, who appeared to be waiting for an explanation.

"I hope you're rested up." Darkmark murmured. "We're leaving again, and not stopping until we get to the place I have to go… for every day I wait, every day I don't succeed, the afterlife is flooded with innocent lives…"

"W-Who _are_ you?" she asked, taken aback by his fearsome appearance. "What are you? I thought you were just a traveller, but…"

"I am all the hopes of both Darkness and Light." Darkmark murmured. "I am the saviour, and the last Dark God. I am the hand that could push the world into the chasm of destruction, or pull it back… but either way, my ultimate purpose is the same. Revenge. Personal revenge, retaliation against those who would hurt me, my family, my friends, my race…"

"Y-You're scaring me." She said quietly, stepping back. "I don't want to go with you any more…"

"_You're not going anywhere!_" Darkmark roared, throwing a mass of psionic cables at her, catching her off guard. "No, no, not yet. Not until I've found what I'm looking for… _then_ you can go."

He dispelled the cables and she collapsed to her knees, keeping her eyes on him. He spread his wings and looked out into the night, casting his gaze over the land before him. "We're not far. And I'm not stopping until I find it… until I find the psychic's temple…"

**_To be continued…_**


	83. Chapter Eighty Two: Loose Threads

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 82 -Loose threads**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

The weather took an abrupt turn for the better in the morning, with the sun beating down through gaps in the clouds, turning the snow on the ground into slush. Skafria and Tsi-Lau didn't care much, flying off as soon as dawn broke, but the surviving Dragon Slayer emerged from the cave he had taken shelter in cursing the heat, opting to go helmetless to relieve himself from the heat as much as he could.

He found his men lying dead with their throats slashed and bearing fang marks, but he left them as they were, collecting his sword and taking note of the reddish, black-flecked substance the blade was coated in. If he got the chance, it would receive a fresh coating…

But he had a duty to do. The other group of Dragon Slayers was a little bit behind them, so if he cut across the mountains, he might be able to catch up to them and warn them about what was prowling around at night…

* * *

Tsi-Lau easily picked out the Anthro's village, nestled between a sheer rockface and a large crack in the ground stretching out of sight. At either end of it were a series of towers with sentries in them, and simple barricades fashioned from stone serving as a basic wall. She and Skafria headed towards the village, landing outside of it and transforming back into Yoshies, finding themselves immediately greeted by a loud call from the nearest sentry tower.

"Halt!" came the voice, "State your business!"

"We're travellers!" Tsi-Lau shouted back. "I'm an assassin from Corvan and I wish to speak to the relatives of Taráya."

"You may pass." The guard called back immediately. "Their house is the large one at the back…"

His tone of voice didn't bode well for Tsi-Lau, and she led Skafria over the snow through the Anthronian settlement. With barely any wood in these parts, all of the houses were made from stone, their sizes varying depending upon the occupants, with flat roofs and smallish chimneys, through which the occasional trail of smoke rose high into the partly cloudy sky. There were thick layers of snow on the tops of the houses, and hardly any signs of life outside, though the occasional trail of footsteps indicated that there was some activity. There was a large empty space in the centre of the settlement, presumably used for gatherings and festivals, but it too lay under a blanket of snow at the moment.

Eventually they reached a large house with several additions to the basic architecture, and Tsi-Lau knocked on the door lightly, pushing it open when she heard a call from inside. Skafria followed her in as they entered, closing the door behind them, and finding themselves greeted by an entire family of Anthro Yoshies.

There was one grandparent, an elderly greenish female with silvery hair but a youthful look, and two parents, dark purple and blue, one blonde and the other a brunette, slim not from exercise or good physique, but from a prolonged lack of proper nourishment. Of the three children, the eldest was a handsome, blonde male with brownish skin, and then there were two younger daughters, a blackish one and an orange one, both with brown hair, and all three had blue outlines around their eyes.

The warm smile on the blue mother's face faded when she saw the various markings on Tsi-Lau's body and equipment, and completely disappeared when Tsi-Lau asked if she knew Taráya.

The father ushered everyone except the mother into another room, evidently aware that it was a sensitive topic, and left her behind to talk. "She… was my eldest daughter, only a year younger than my son. She's been gone for quite a while now, several years in fact… I was hoping I wouldn't have to hear from her again…"

Tsi-Lau waited a moment before speaking up. "I'm not a messenger. She was my teacher at the assassin's guild… I bring you news of her death."

The mother took a sharp breath, before holding a hand to her mouth to stifle her cries even though tears began to slide down her cheeks. "No, no…" she whimpered, barely able to speak, "I… I didn't want…"

The father came back into the room, apparently having heard her cries, and pulled her into a hug, pushing her head onto his chest for her to cry on. "What's wrong, honey?" he asked, holding her gently but compassionately.

"O-Our daughter… Taráya… she, she's dead…"

The father seemed to take this news a little better, keeping his eyes dry although his facial expression betrayed his feelings. Talking to the two visitors, he said, "I'm sorry to hear that… we were just thinking about trying to contact her, but now there's no point…"

Skafria stepped forwards, but Tsi-Lau pushed him back, fixing him with a steely glare. "Not yet." She hissed, pre-empting what he was going to say.

Turning back to Yasei-Yeiko's family, she asked, "She told me of you once or twice, but I didn't know that you and her weren't speaking…"

"She sent us money." The father said. "We never got any letters, or anything else, just money… she wanted to help us, but at the same time, she didn't particularly want to talk to us…"

"Why did she leave?"

The mother regained her voice, standing on her own with her hands on her husband's shoulders. "We made her feel out of place… it wasn't intentional, but… we just couldn't accept her, what she was doing… you know…"

Tsi-Lau shook her head. "No, I don't know…"

"Oh, I… I'm sorry, I thought…" the mother stammered, blushing, apparently having made a mistake.

"She was always different." The father said, taking over. "But one day, she just… told us that she… she was a… _khíshala_…"

Although she had expected it, Tsi-Lau was taken aback by this. Skafria, however, couldn't stifle a chuckle and said, "Oh, I thought Darkmark was joking, but I guess it's true that you and her-"

"Shut up!" Tsi-Lau barked, hitting Skafria hard in the chest. He wasn't hurt but the force knocked him back, and she turned back to face the distraught parents again.

"I didn't know she was until after her death." Tsi-Lau said honestly. "She had a note with her that said that… she loved me, but I thought it was just a friendly expression, I never _knew_…"

"We didn't either." The mother said. "Just… one day, she spoke up and told us… the other girl she left behind in the village has since passed away from hypothermia, but we never could accept her while she was here, and only after she left did we find out how much we missed her…"

"I know that most of the Octhotheist commandments are only supposed to be suggestions," the father added, "but we didn't feel it was right… and because of that, she felt unwelcome, and one day just left to become an assassin… we never felt easy spending the money she sent us, knowing how she got it, but without it we and the rest of our people would long ago have perished…"

Skafria spoke up again, too quick for Tsi-Lau to stop him. "I… I helped to kill her." He admitted. "But she did horrible things to me and my friend… she killed his feral partner and their unhatched child…"

The mother dipped her head. "How could she do such a thing…"

"And what of your friend?" The father asked.

"He's… he's the next saviour…"

* * *

True to his word, Darkmark had not stopped flying for hours now, and wasn't even sure whether or not Yoshata was still following him. But it was getting intense, now… the feeling of power, of some huge source of psionic energy up ahead…

And then he saw it. Diving through a cloud layer, he found himself gazing upon a gigantic hole in the ground, plunging into the bowels of the planet. Around the edge of the hole were several obelisks with various glowing red symbols carved into them, forming a perimeter around the hole. Across the surface of the hole was a fluctuating web of psionic energy, pulsing and crackling, radiating little sparks of the purple energy out into space, producing a low buzz to couple the black aurae that surrounded each obelisk. The ground around it had no snow, and was a toxic murky swamp, poisoned by the evil radiating from it, from the passage sealed by the obelisks, upholding the seal placed so long ago by the goddess Karshina…

The entrance to the Underworld.

**To be continued…**


	84. Chapter Eighty Three: Counting Down

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 83 -Counting down**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

"Oh… h-hello again."

Tsi-Lau nodded to Taráya's mother as she re-entered the house. After leaving earlier, she had wandered for a while before coming back, intent on getting what she had originally come to the village for.

"Did Taráya show any interest in fighting before she left?"

"Y-yes… that's why she went to the assassin's guild… she was so strong, it came as such a shock to us that she-"

Tsi-Lau cut her off. "Well then… can I go check her room? I want to see if there's anything there I can use…"

"Use? What for?"

"I… I want to avenge her death." She said simply.

"But your friend, he…"

She shook her head. "He only helped. His friend was the real culprit…"

"But he's the saviour!"

Tsi-Lau dipped her head. "If he really is the saviour, then he cannot die…"

"I cannot allow you to-"

Tsi-Lau decided to get intimidating and bared her fangs, hissing at her once, before going back to her placid self. "Both of us, me and my friend… and if you don't help me, I'm afraid I'll have to start drinking…"

The silvery assassin noted that this almost always worked. "O… okay…" the mother stammered, "that room… over there…"

Tsi-Lau went forwards with a smirk on her face. Perhaps the weapon she needed to defeat Darkmark was in here…

* * *

Abruptly, Darkmark plunged into a steep dive, zigzagging past rocky outcroppings from the closest mountain, and gaining speed as he hurtled towards the ground, heading straight for the sealed underworld entrance. At the last possible moment he turned sharply, heading straight into a vertical climb, rising several feet before floating back down to the ground with his wings outstretched.

Landing softly on the top of one of the obelisks, he leaned forwards and peered down through the flux of energy, looking down the hole. He could see nothing except, in the very centre, the faintest of red dots, glowing slightly, and he heard a voice call to him…

"Behind you." Karlo-Shin said, as though he were speaking from within Darkmark's head. "The temple is behind you…"

Turning around, he saw Yoshata hovering two feet above the swampy ground, holding a hand over her nose in feeble defence against the fetid stench of the decaying plants and putrid water that formed the swamp. Purple fumes rose from the stained ground, and Darkmark chose to fly fairly high above the ground to avoid them, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary…

Just beyond where the swamp ended – Darkmark noticed it was a perfect circle around the underworld entrance – he saw a cube of rock sticking up from the ground, three or four feet across, with one exposed face comprising what seemed to be a door of some sort, given that it appeared to be loose from the rest of it. Landing gently on the ground, he ran his fingers over the ornate symbols carved into the door, noting a distinct similarity in style to the ones he had found in the cave nearer the entrance to the mountain range…

"Ancient Yoshi." he murmured aloud. "What does it say…?"

He heard Karlo-Shin's voice again, only it was from directly behind him this time. Yoshata gave a loud gasp, and Darkmark turned around to see the black feral standing there, but his body was partially transparent, and he was floating slightly above the ground. "It says that a sacrifice is required to open the door…"

Darkmark looked at the door, then over to Yoshata as Karlo-Shin pointed to her. "You have one right here. You don't know her, nobody knows her, just use her to break the seal…"

"No!" Darkmark snapped. "I'm not killing her… she's innocent. She's done nothing wrong!"

She started to step back, but somehow Karlo-Shin was able to knock her forwards with a bolt of energy, sending her falling to her knees in front of Darkmark. "Do it." He urged. "Her sacrifice will bring a new era of peace to Chyrus…"

"There is no true peace that has been founded on the shedding of innocent blood…"

"If you don't do it, think what will happen!" Karlo-Shin roared. "More ferals will be slaughtered! More sub-races will be wiped out! And one day, the humans will turn their attentions to the rest of us, and then what? Will you allow the divine creation of a god to be destroyed by a chance evolution from lower creatures? We are closer to perfection than they ever will be. A god created us…"

"But if we kill in the cold blood that they do, we are as low as them."

"This is not murder." Karlo-Shin hissed. "It is a sacrifice! It won't be in vain, and the Gods will send her to her rightful place in the afterlife…"

Darkmark swallowed heavily. Nervously, his hands shaking, he brought the silver blade up above his head, holding onto it two-handed, moving into place. Yoshata closed her eyes and looked away, just as Darkmark brought the blade down…

The enchanted edge swung through the air harmlessly, skimming past her head with barely an inch to spare. Continuing on the wide arc, Darkmark swung the blade past his body and up again, slicing through the stone door with the enchanted blade quite cleanly, allowing it to fall in on itself, collapsing onto the ground.

Karlo-Shin gave a loud chuckle and some light applause, confusing Darkmark to no end. "Well done, well done. Always think for yourself! Don't just take what others tell you at face value…"

"I-… I was supposed to do that?"

"Well…" Karlo-Shin muttered, "I don't think _supposed_ is the right word. It was one of a few possibilities. The sacrifice would have worked as well, but then, the future would have changed again…"

Yoshata cautiously stood up, feeling herself to make sure she was still alive. "Why?" Darkmark asked. "Is she important?"

The feral scoffed. "No, her life is meaningless in the long run. It's only yours that is important now. But that is not your concern; the way is open! You know what to do…"

He faded out and left the pair of Yoshies on their own as the sun set. Darkmark turned around and looked into the cube, to find it was hollow, containing only a smallish altar upon which a fist-sized gem of some kind was set, pulsing slightly. It was purple and mostly transparent, and had a pentagram carved into it, which itself seemed to be shining brighter than the rest of the stone. Picking it up, he found that it had been set into a hollow in the altar, and after he removed it, there was a buzzing sound from behind him…

Spinning around on his toes, he saw the air seem to distort in a large flat space, melting the snow nearby, and out of thin air a large, marble temple materialised rapidly, halting the buzzing sound as soon as it was done. Statues of Karshina in various poses alternated with supporting columns, and Darkmark gladly ran forwards expectantly, entering the temple through the huge, wide doorway…

* * *

Skafria was flitting between the houses in the Anthro village, looking in the windows and checking the occupants of each one, until at last he stumbled across a lone female Yoshi, sitting by the fire, staring into its flames while the wings on her back twitched slightly…

Pushing open the door, Skafria nodded in her general direction when she turned to him. "Hey, I was wondering where you were."

She looked around nervously, brushing her reddish hair off to one side, before it simply fell back into place covering one eye. "Oh, it's you…"

"Hey, c'mon, we saved your life." Skafria replied curtly. "You could at least show a little more gratitude…"

Nervously, she edged back, clutching at her scarf. "Please, don't hurt me, I don't want to be a vampire…"

"You won't be." Skafria said assuringly. "I've never turned anyone into a vampire yet…"

He took a step forwards and she leapt off of her chair, backing up against the wall. "Please, just go away…"

Skafria came closer, and she stepped along the wall until she could reach a large pike propped up against it, and in a single movement grabbed it and thrust it at him. It bounced harmlessly off of his skin, striking sparks, and she stared at him wide-eyed in shock, dropping the pike, and didn't resist when he made another advance, giving a low hiss as he opened his mouth and brought his fangs closer to her neck…

**To be continued…**


	85. Chapter Eighty Four: Embrace The Darknes

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 84 - Embrace the darkness**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

It was an incredible sight. The floor was finely polished marble, reflecting images of everything upon it, and marble support columns lined the outside of the main room they were in, with bright torches casting their light about the room, burning without smoke. Statues of all eight of the Octothesian gods circled the room, and in the centre of it all a single altar stood alone, with a ghostly image of Karlo-Shin hovering above it…

Darkmark ran straight for the altar, but Karlo-Shin coughed as he arrived. "I know what you're thinking… this isn't the marble altar." He said solemnly. "But no matter. It's time for you to come to us… give me the jewel."

Hesitantly, Darkmark put the jewel into Karlo-Shin's ethereal hands, but in a bright flash he suddenly became solid, with a wavy, pale azure cord of some kind trailing from his body to the surface of the altar, which had become a bright sapphire colour, and was swirling with many shades of blue, almost hypnotising Darkmark as he stared at it. Reaching out, he tried to touch it and found that his hand passed straight through it, and throwing caution to the wind, he vaulted over the edge and jumped in, with Karlo-Shin following him.

He felt himself falling as swirls of blue cascaded all around him, before there was a bright flash and found himself standing within the church of death he had seen before, surrounded by all the Dark Gods but Klashkna, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Welcome, Darkmark." Karlo-Shin said, stepping out from behind him. "Look familiar?"

"Very." Darkmark replied. The stench of blood was no less intrusive than it was when he wasn't there in person…

The others whom he did not know merely nodded at him in acknowledgement, saying nothing as they continued to stare at him with their blazing red eyes. They stood motionless, watching intently, unblinking, and unnerving him to no end.

"Don't worry about them." Karlo-Shin muttered. "They won't speak to you until you have proven yourself, and we will get to that in just a moment. But first you need to know the full extent of your psionic powers, so that you will be able to prove yourself when the time comes…"

He stepped forwards suddenly, but instead of bumping into Darkmark, he simply passed straight through him. As he did, Darkmark felt a sudden flow of energy into him, starting with just a trickle and building into a great rush, filling every part of his body with a great power. He then felt some of the energy flowing away from him, and back again, forwards and backwards, faster and faster as Karlo-Shin kept moving at a slow pace…

Darkmark's sight suddenly whited out, and he found himself seeing a bright white vision of somewhere…

* * *

_"Marcus, the time of your test has come. To prove yourself, you must defeat your inner evil…"_

_Marcus nodded solemnly, holding the silver sword by his side as it shone faintly. Shiala gently put a hand on his back and wished him luck in her soft voice as the brown Yoshi stepped forwards, into the portal that the image of Laryshka had just opened for him…_

* * *

Snapping back to his senses, Darkmark suddenly fell forwards as Karlo-Shin finally passed through him, and their bodies disconnected. He felt different, he felt something powerful within him, something that perhaps the black feral had put there during whatever it was he had just done…

"And here comes your test." Karlo-Shin murmured. Darkmark stood up shakily and gazed in the direction he was pointing, towards a bluish portal in the middle of the large empty space of the church of death. "Can you feel the knowledge I have just imparted upon you? It is all of my life's work, all that I have discovered about the use of my psionics, and now it is your knowledge, too. Use it well… Darkmark, the time of your test has come. To prove yourself, you must defeat your inner good… the Marcus you could have been. I suppose you could call him Lightmark." Karlo-Shin chuckled at his own little joke, before clearing his throat and continuing when Darkmark didn't follow suit. "In his life, Manny died but Shiala lived, and now he follows the light… you must defeat him, for us to accept you."

From out of the portal stepped Darkmark… except that Darkmark was already there, watching it happen. It was him as he had been in the short interim between when he had had his wings fused to his back, but before Foryo had hit him with the final degenerative curse that had changed his appearance so. The Marcus he was watching had bright red membranes on his wings, and the brilliant eyes of Karshina that Darkmark now lacked, carrying a duplicate of the silver sword that Darkmark slowly withdrew from its sheath as he strode forwards to meet his alternate self. The only thing absent was the two black eyebrows that Darkmark had put above his head, but since they were borne from a conversation with Skafria, it was only natural to assume that that was the reason Marcus didn't have them.

Sparing no words, Marcus rushed for Darkmark with his sword held high, and Darkmark was able to easily catch the swing on his blade, swinging it around and making a counter-slash. Marcus easily dodged the attack and came forward again, stabbing at his eviller self, but he held his blade up and deflected the strike off of the flat of the sword. Taking the offensive, Darkmark leapt forwards and slashed as he went, using the momentum he had gained to roll when he hit the ground, dodging the counter-slash the nimble Marcus has made.

Both versions of the brown Yoshi threw psionic spells at each other; a bolt of energy from Darkmark, and a flat disc of it from Marcus. Neither was hurt and both simply absorbed the charge of energy, turning back to their weapons and slashing at each other, their blades meeting and forming a cross, which they held as they glowered, staring hatefully into each others' eyes.

"For my family and my people, I will defeat you." Marcus hissed.

"I have no family." Darkmark replied. "I do this only for the Yoshies."

Both broke away, and Marcus made the next strike, but Darkmark turned to his side and deflected the attack, sweeping around in a full circle and bringing the shining blade past Marcus's head as he ducked. Darkmark quickly jumped over the low slash that Marcus made, before bringing his blade down to intercept the upwards strike Marcus was about to make. Seizing an opportunity, Darkmark stamped his foot down on the sword to pin it to the ground, but Marcus leapt to his feet and backflipped, kicking Darkmark in the chest as he did so, picking up his sword with a psionic cable as his adversary stumbled back, recovering from the attack.

When Marcus ran for him again, Darkmark tried to sidestep quickly, but instead he suddenly shifted at lightning pace about six feet to his right, feeling the flow of energy through him as he inadvertently used his psionics. Feeling triumphant as Marcus's attack missed, Darkmark drew a charge of energy to himself and, trusting to whatever he might do with it, intentionally or not, charged forwards.

In a bounding slash, as soon as Darkmark's feet left the floor he again spontaneously jumped forwards about three feet, leaving a faint mirror image in the space where he had been, which faded out after a moment. His slash traced a rainbow arc through the air, and struck the surprised Marcus's sword with such force that a loud metallic note rang through the air, sending Marcus flying backwards into the nearest wall. Though stunned, he was able to roll aside to dodge Darkmark's next attack, and slashed upwards in self-defence, landing gracefully on his feet. Quick as a flash, Darkmark's blade was down in front of him defensively, and he caught the strike before swinging the blade around to counterattack, jumping instantaneously out of the way again, able to watch another of Marcus's attacks slice harmlessly through the fading mirror image.

Running quickly in a circle and executing the teleport as he did so, he ran rings around Marcus, who held up his blade while attempting to follow Darkmark as he ran around, but when Darkmark tried to leap forwards and slash Marcus, his good self put his arms out to his sides and brought up a barrier of energy that expanded around him, bouncing Darkmark away, before it faded and dissipated. Trying to regain the upper hand, Marcus threw his sword at Darkmark, controlling it like a puppeteer and making it keep thrusting forwards as its target continued to knock it away. Finally Darkmark ran away and leapt over Marcus, who deftly caught the sword as it came flying towards him, swinging around just in time to catch what could have been the final attack.

Jumping back and then forwards again, teleporting both times, Darkmark made a powerful slash that knocked Marcus's sword from his grip, but with his other hand he grabbed hold of Darkmark's sword, and wrenched it from his grasp, activating the ownership enchantment upon it and dropping it to the floor as its weight suddenly increased. In fury Darkmark called upon another hitherto unused power, and the air buzzed around Marcus as it became static with energy, allowing Darkmark to throw his doppelganger across the room and into the wall, knocking bits of plaster loose from it. Repeating the manoeuvre with more ease now that he had done it once, he picked him up and slammed him against the floor repeatedly until he let out a loud, despairing groan.

"This is the difference between you and me." Darkmark growled, stepping up to Marcus. "This is the parallel between Darkness and Light. I see my chosen path and what it has come to, right here, and I see my decisions were the right ones. And as long as you, or me, or whoever you are… as long as you follow the path of light, you will never become as strong as I am."

He hauled Marcus up off the floor by the flesh on his chest and threw him back through the portal he had entered through, which collapsed shortly afterwards, and turned back to where the others had stood, watching. Karlo-Shin came forward to greet him, suddenly grabbing him around the wrist and hauling him back up to the altar, heaving the startled brown Yoshi up on top of it and pinning him down.

"Don't worry…" Karlo-Shin told him, as he took the Octagram from Darkmark. "When you wake up, you will be one of us, free to wreak your vengeance upon the world…"

Something flowed up from the altar to Darkmark's body, and he blacked out…

**To be continued…**


	86. Chapter Eighty Five: Flashes Of The Past

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 85 -Flashes of the past**

_Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Heh, on time this week. Sorry about last week, I had an exam and so the posting got delayed._

_

* * *

_"Sir, someone's here to see you." 

"Make it quick. We attack in an hour…"

The leader of the second group of Dragon Slayers looked up from his sword, which he had been busy sharpening. In came a flustered and exhausted friend of his, who struggled to remain upright as he saluted.

"What are you doing here, Lieutenant? Where's the rest of your unit?"

"Dead!" the red-haired Lieutenant shouted. "I've come to warn you. There's something very strange within these hills."

"Dead, you say? What could possibly have killed nineteen of the kingdom's elite Dragon Slayers? Surely not the adverse weather, unless there was an avalanche."

"Captain, you have to believe me, there were two of them-…"

"Two? You were defeated by merely two?"

"They were vampires! And none of them seemed to be bothered in the slightest by my men's swords, only by mine. That silver coating must have some use against them."

The Captain was unbelieving. "Lieutenant, spare me your pitiful tales. Why have you abandoned your group?"

The lieutenant drew his sword angrily, showing the Volzia encrusted almost all of the way along the blade. "Does this look like a fairy tale? I'm telling you that we were attacked by vampire Yoshies and-"

"You were beaten by _Yoshies?_" the Captain shouted back. "You're brought shame to our glorious name!"

"For God's sake, stop thinking about your-" The Lieutenant swore loudly at his superior for effect, "-reputation, and look at the big picture! Get things in perspective! Your reputation won't matter if you're dead in this godforsaken wasteland!"

"How dare you talk to a superior officer like that!" The Captain roared back. "I'll have you reported!"

The Lieutenant had had enough, and sheathed his sword. "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you when you're burning in hell. I'm going back to report your deaths."

He walked out, furious at the idiocy of all those around him, hoping his supplies would last him until he could get out of the mountain range…

* * *

When Darkmark awoke, all was still. The silence was only broken by a low, occasional sound, quite like dripping water, as though it were a great distance away. Wondering what had happened, he opened his eyes and looked around. 

He was nowhere, it seemed. All around him lay vast empty reaches of blackness, perpetuated only by faint golden glowing balls far away in the distance, all of which seemed distorted and waving. On one side of him were the seven Light Gods, with a small white flame burning in the air beside them, flickering occasionally into the form of a Yoshi, ghostly pale. On his other side were the seven Dark Gods, Klashkna at the forefront of the group, watching and waiting.

"What would you do, Darkmark?" Karshina asked him. "This is your choice now. Do you sacrifice your soul to gain the powers of darkness…?

Karlo-Shin scoffed. "Or would you perhaps follow the path of light to no ultimate avail?"

Sorsoy shook her head, her streamers a pale green. "No peace has ever been founded on the shedding of blood…"

One of the Dark Gods, the teal anthro female, spoke up. "The humans will found their kingdom on the blood of _our_ people if we do not take action!"

Another one of the Dark Gods concurred, the dragon Yoshi. "They will stop at nothing to see to it that the evil within their hearts has all its wishes granted. And when it is, they shall turn upon each other, and our lands will be left barren and lifeless…"

Klashkna spoke next. "Eirsir, would you let your creation be wiped out when it is possible to change its fate?"

The green-skinned god shook his head. "Would that I could. We are powerless without my sword, a problem you caused, dark one…"

"The Dark Gods, on the other hand, _do_ have power." Karlo-Shin pointed out. "The origin of our powers is different from yours, different from that of your sword's. Our leader drew some power from that, but the rest of us…"

"That power draws you into the darkness!" Vizorvy cried.

"And what do you know?" Another one of the Dark Gods roared, the fallen angel. "Only those who have experienced the light and the darkness are in any position to judge!"

"…and that would be me." Darkmark said calmly, but loudly enough to be heard.

He stood up, facing sideways, and continually turned his gaze between the two groups. "I started as being on the side of light. And what happened to me? I lost everyone and everything. I had power I could not use. I couldn't protect those I loved or cared for. Only with the so-called dark powers I was able to save myself and become a competent warrior. I was able to achieve my goals. I could not protect those I wanted to, but I could, and still can, protect the lives of my people that are not yet lost…"

He let his words hang in the air for a moment. "Perhaps if the side of light had any power, but they do not. They have all their hopes and dreams pinned upon a single soul, a legend, the tale of Sévar…"

The flame with the Light Gods suddenly burned more sporadically, and an echoing voice sounded forth. "That legend has a basis in truth. But only one of the light could make it come to pass. Would you condemn my existence for your own gain?"

"It isn't for my own gain." Darkmark told the flame, evidently the spirit of Sévar. "For all those who live, for all those whose lives have not yet been claimed. When I hesitate, lives are destroyed. That precious gift is taken by those who do not possess the intelligence to comprehend all their actions, all their reasoning. I have made my choice, and it is the only sensible one there is!"

Nobody spoke, and he grew angrier. "Well?" he shouted.

Both Eirsir and Klashkna stepped forwards, arms outstretched, staring each other in the eyes. "Do you think it's time, then?" Klashkna sneered.

The foremost Yoshi god stared unblinking. "What choice do we have…?"

They both grabbed for Darkmark in the same instant, and he felt like he was being torn apart as his vision whited out, until all his feeling suddenly disappeared momentarily. An incredible power flowed into him from all directions, imbuing him with its might, and when he opened his eyes he found himself standing upon the altar within the psychic's temple…

"This is for you…" Karlo-Shin murmured nonchalantly.

Holding up both his hands, he released the objects held within them. In his right was the original octagram Darkmark had carried, but in the other…

If the first was a Light Octagram, then this was the Dark one. Instead of gold, some black metal made up the main part of it, with gems in the same shape as the other, but of the colours of the Dark Gods. And, Darkmark noticed, the Light Octagram was now missing the red gem, and currently held a pale yellow gem instead.

"I never expected this, I'm sure." Karlo-Shin muttered as Darkmark picked up the two octagrams. "You're not just the saviour. You're not a Dark God either. You're the fabled one, in touch with both the light and the darkness. Wherever there is light, there is darkness to match, but with you, you are both, and yet you are neither. Perhaps you even have the power to bring both of us together, the light and the dark, but that remains to be seen…"

Before Darkmark could say anything, Miyala appeared before him, pushing the Dark Gods back. "Darkmark, o fabled one. All our hopes are with you know. You have a duty to perform, but let me show you something…"

She flipped the hourglass on her palm over so that the sand was flowing upwards. But it suddenly slowed down and stopped, freezing the Dark Gods in place, and she took hold of Darkmark just as it began to flow downwards…

* * *

_The Dragon Slayers charged from all directions at once, converging in a circular formation onto the feral village, swift and deadly, leaving nothing living in their path. Their serrated swords hacked into the orange-tanned flesh of the ferals, who fought back in vain as they realised they were being attacked, and fell quickly and decisively to them, their blood staining the soil beneath them, their settlement in ruins…_

_A white feral, quite odd-looking with his tanned chest, was able to duck a slash and only take it lightly across his chest, rolling in pain out from the formation of soldiers, running for his life as blood seeped from the wound. Throwing a single psionic fireball at the lone soldier who pursued him, he ran on, long into the night, until he arrived at the city, and caught his breath, his lost blood draining his life._

_Knowing what he had to do to preserve his bloodline, he captured a female Yoshi and pulled her into a back alley, engaging in a forced mating whilst trying to explain to her what was happening, collapsing afterwards and dying on the stone street, the only remnants of his kind being the egg growing within the female he had taken…

* * *

_

_"Kill them. Kill every last one!"_

_The mercenaries rode out of the forest that had been concealing them and set to work, cutting down the Yoshies with their swords before they could run, throwing burning torches onto the thatched roofs, their horses tearing up the grass with their hooves as lifeless bodies fell to the ground…_

_The dark wizard rode forward on his own horse, chanting a powerful magic spell before directing it at one of the far houses, which was engulfed in magical fire and collapsed upon itself. Several of the homes were ablaze, and two of the mercenaries suddenly stopped, calling back to him._

_"Foryo! Foryo!" they cried, pointing to the body of a brown Yoshi. He'd check it later…_

_Suddenly he spotted a flash of something out of the corner of his eye, and saw a pink Yoshi looking out of the window of one of the so far untouched houses. When she saw him look at her, she ducked out of view, but he blasted the house apart with a fireball and it collapsed onto her, sending the Yoshi known as Alziana into unconsciousness with wounds that would bring about her death…

* * *

_

_There was a sudden crash, and Karva looked up from the game he had been playing with his two children. A loud call cut the air before there were more screams and shouts, and he quickly ran inside to alert his wife and grab his spear._

_The two of them ran outside again, determined to protect their home, running over to their little ones and putting them on their saddles, lifting their wings to keep the flightless babies safe. The Dragon Slayers were being successful so far, but there were a large number of winged ones in flight, circling the settlement and dive-bombing the intruders. Three of them attacked Karva and his family, and he took on two while his wife went for the last, using their spears to keep the armoured humans at bay. Another winged one dive-bombed close to Karva, catching the attention of a soldier and drawing him away…_

_Karva's wife screamed and fell back, the baby jumping from her saddle, as two more winged Yoshies came to their rescue. In his distraction Karva's spear was broken by the serrated edge of the human's blade, and when he dodged to one side the child he was protecting also fell off and landed near the other._

_He tried to grab them, but a third Dragon Slayer appeared from between two houses, and beat him to it. Both of his little children's cries were silenced at the edge of a blade, and Karva choked on his tears as his wife pulled him up into the air, where they circled the area as the Dragon Slayers continued to destroy their home, leaving naught but destruction where they went…_

_Having no other choice, all of the surviving winged Yoshies headed for the mountains, with those like Karva who had lost loved ones staying behind only for a little while to say farewell, and to curse those who had taken them away…

* * *

_

_The red Yoshi returned to find his home in ruins, his entire village gone, nothing left but rubble and bodies. He ran to where his home had stood, finding the bodies of his parents, their eyes blank and lifeless. His friends, too, and even the special girl he had been working up the courage to talk to…_

_He looked up the sky angrily, clenching his fists. Why had this happened to him? Why had the gods allowed it? Didn't they care? And why would the humans destroy his home? Nobody here had done anything wrong… but was it his fault? Had they been killed because he was researching the dark arts…?_

_The red Yoshi said his farewells and left, his path chosen. He would discover the secrets of the darkness and tap them, make them his own power, and use it, among other things, to ask the gods themselves why they had let such a horrid crime come to pass…

* * *

_

Taking the name of Klashkna, the red Yoshi left his home behind as the darkness crept over the remnants of what had been his home.

"Darkmark…" Miyala said softly as the last vision ended. "Both the gods of Light and Darkness want the same thing, but look for different means to do so… and the fabled one will bridge the gap between them, and make it happen. If you are that fabled one, you will prevent the next one of these massacres that is about to occur, by whatever means necessary…"

The next vision she showed him was of the near future, of what was about to happen. Once it was over, Darkmark was overcome with fury, and felt anger welling up inside of him as she flipped the hourglass back the right way round, and let the sand resume its fall, a few grains falling as time began to flow again, before she vanished…

**_To be continued…_**


	87. Chapter Eighty Six: Unsealed Power

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 86 - Unsealed Power**

_Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Cursed Yoshi will be taking a temporary indefinate hiatus while I plan the next section. It may be back in a week or two, a month, or there may not be a delay in the end at all, but this is just a heads-up._

High among the mountaintops, inside the winged Yoshies' aerie, Karva quietly stepped inside the room that served as the Octotheist shrine, and greeted the priestess there, who had been reading from the Fayen to her child, a small pinkish Yoshi with wings that were starting to develop to the point where she would be able to fly.

She smiled as Karva entered, pausing in her reading. "Hello, Karva. May the gods be with you…"

"And may their blessings be yours." He replied, smiling back.

She gently shut the book and put it back on the shelf, giving Butterfly a loving hug before sending her on her way back to her room, leaving her alone with Karva. "You look the happiest I've seen you for quite some time." She observed.

"I… I've had my hope renewed, Márynn." He said softly, stepping up to her as she got up from her chair. Softly he put his hand to his chest and clenched it, before moving it over to hers, and spreading his fingers across her skin. "Blessings from my heart to yours." He whispered.

She put one hand over his and copied the gesture, saying, "And blessings to thee, my friend…"

After a moment's hesitation, Karva leant forwards and pulled her towards him gently with his other hand, rubbing noses with her before sliding his arms around her as he kissed her gently, taking his head away almost immediately. "Márynn, I want to say…"

"No need, Karva." She replied, taking hold of him. "After your wife died, you always came to me for comfort… initially, I'm sure, because I'm a priestess, but I know that you developed feelings for me that you repressed because you were in mourning…"

His smile broadened. "I think I might still love her, but I cannot keep loving a mere memory… I have to try to move on. I've done all I can… we will be reunited in the afterlife, and I have mourned long enough…"

She flared her wings as she pulled him closer, a pinkish tint showing in her cheeks. "It is only the duty of an Octotheist to stay loyal for as long as their partner lives, for they will be able to meet again in the afterlife…" she whispered.

He nuzzled up to her. "Thank you… it must have been just as hard for you, losing your husband…"

She blushed a little more. "Yes… and thank you… we need hope up here… when the saviour comes, our patience will be rewarded…"

Karva kept quiet and kissed her again. "We have to hold onto our hopes…"

"Some day…" she breathed, "Some day, they will become reality…"

They moved closer for a deeper kiss, but the ground shook beneath them and they stopped, looking about to make sure the cave wasn't going to collapse. "That was the biggest one there has been so far…" Karva whispered.

"Should we go outside, do you think?" Márynn asked, shifting nervously from foot to foot. "I don't want Butterfly to be in any danger…"

Another tremor shook the ground, and they both left abruptly, stopping by to get Márynn's daughter as they headed along with many of the others for the exit, standing on the plateau just outside the aerie. The tremor went on for some time and then subsided, but they stayed outside awhile with the others, holding close for comfort and warmth…

It happened just as Karva looked up into the distance. The ground shook once more, sending the eagles flying high into the air, circling above the valleys below them. One of the mountains in the distance suddenly gave off a steady column of smoke, before the top of it exploded in a rush of molten magma, lighting up the sky and filling the air with a horrendous sound. Ash billowed into the air, and the winged Yoshies watched in horror as an ancient volcano blew, turning the horizon red…

* * *

After Darkmark had fallen through the altar it had become solid again, and Yoshata watched and waited, unsure what to do. Perhaps it would be best if she left him, and set off on her own way again, but she was worried what he might do if left completely to his own devices…

It wasn't that she was afraid of what he might do if he caught her again, but that she wasn't entirely sure where she was, or where to go. She was just a traveller and had been following Darkmark, seeing where he'd take her, but she hadn't counted on the developments that had taken place…

When the tremors reached Yoshata, she moved cautiously to the doorway, watching the altar all the time. The second one drove her out to the open ground, and when the loud roar in the distance sounded, she watched in amazement as the temple faded out again, and the broken door to her right re-formed, hiding the empty pedestal behind it.

From behind her there was a loud rumble, and the obelisks around the underworld entrance began to glow faintly, before the barrier they were creating temporarily faded out. Darkmark flew up out of it while it did so, and landed next to Yoshata as it went back as it was before, without any signs to show what had happened.

When Yoshata turned to Darkmark, she stepped back in shock. His eyes were a deep black, with red pupils glowing out of the darkness, staring into her like a knife. Psionic energy buzzed all around him, and a large fiery black aura surrounded him, bits of it sparking off as it burned. Similar purple aurae surrounded his hands, which were solid purple from the charge of psi energy, and when he spoke his voice seemed to rumble and growl all around her.

"This is it…" he snarled, breathing heavily. "The power I wanted… the power I needed… so powerful… that they called it _Neoríasár_… god-like…"

He ran forwards and leapt into the air at great speed, and after a moment of hesitation Yoshata went after him, flying behind him as she followed the black aura in the skies, looking away only to watch the distant volcano erupting…

* * *

The winged anthro came to before Skafria, shaking her head. She started when she saw him and crawled away, and felt her neck nervously.

"Like I said… not that you'll remember… it won't turn you into a vampire. I just need food."

"Don't _ever_ do that again." She said, though she knew she couldn't stop him if she tried.

"Sorry, but I need to eat too. Now that that's out of the way, though, would you care to tell me your name?"

"Salína." She replied curtly.

"I'm Skafria. Pleased to meet you."

She began to check her clothing for any tears, and Skafria gave a sigh. "I haven't done anything else to you. I'm not that low."

"Look, you still really… freak me out… where's your friend? Why don't you go see her?"

"Fine, fine, I know when I'm not wanted." Skafria murmured, leaving with a sigh. "Just so you know, you tasted great!"

* * *

Tsi-Lau's search was ultimately very fruitful. Initially she had only found things of mild interest in her sensei's bedroom – her diary, dated from roughly seven years ago, told her all she needed to know regarding Taráya's feelings for other females. There were a few books about chi, and some scruffy notes in Taráya's handwriting on chi and fighting techniques, incredibly simple compared to what Tsi-Lau knew, but quite advanced for a non-assassin. A couple of books about weapons, a few scribbles about chi and weapons together, and then she had found them.

Evidently they were the first prototypes of Taráya's chi-blades, but only some of them actually worked. There was an entire drawer of them, some more useful than others, each one dated and numbered, with attached notes on how each one worked, and what made it. It seemed that each one contained a small chi-crystal, which had the power to amplify and channel any chi put into it, but directing it was the main problem. It involved various other magical items, and a brightly-coloured piece of paper attached to a pair painted with an ornate pattern showed the most recent model, exactly the same as the ones she had used in her fight against Darkmark and Skafria.

Tsi-Lau practised with them, keeping the slip of paper in case she needed it, before looking around a little more. The only other thing of interest she found was the note she had left to her parents when she fled the village, telling them that she was sorry that they couldn't accept her, and she was going to try to make her way in the city, sending them some money if she could…

The first time the ground shook beneath her, a single book fell from the shelves, one of the ones Tsi-Lau had already looked at, and she put it back before leaving abruptly. She got out of the front door before the second tremor, and bumped into Skafria in the middle of the village just as the volcano erupted in the distance, filling the air with a roar they couldn't hear anything through. Salína ran out of her house and flew up into the air, coming back down once the sound had abated and declared that it was too far away to be any threat to them.

But then another call sounded from one end of the village, from the end that Skafria and Tsi-Lau hadn't come from, and they rushed to investigate, spotting the line of twenty Dragon Slayers rushing forwards, swords drawn, about to eradicate the last of the anthros…

Skafria swore loudly as they ran closer. "I don't believe this. There are more of them! Why do they do this? Why do they want to kill everyone who's different from themselves?"

"It's what happens when your faith in your religion is blind." Tsi-Lau replied calmly as she fiddled with the chi-blades, finally forming two long, shining blades from the handles, preparing to attack. "You end up thinking that everyone else is wrong, without trying to prove yourself right first. And in order to prevent anyone else saying that you might be wrong, or possibly proving you wrong, you silence them…"

Skafria disagreed, thinking that there was more to it than that, but there were more pressing matters at hand. Tsi-Lau held her newly acquired chi-blades in front of her, and Skafria brandished his sword, running between the two watchtowers that formed up the gate, to meet the elite soldiers in their advance. They rushed for each other, each side letting out battle cries in their native tongue, but there was barely thirty feet between them when suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge purple lightning bolt slammed into the ground between them, knocking them all back. Snow and dirt went flying into the air and showered both groups, and they waited as the dust cleared in a sudden, cold silence…

Darkmark was on one knee, his head dipped, the black aura pulsating around his body. Slowly he got to his feet, and he looked up at the group of Dragon Slayers, standing tall, folding his wings back as they stared in awe. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, Darkmark gave the two vampires a hateful glare, but turned his attention back to the Dragon Slayers, who were about to make a move.

"I guess the Lieutenant wasn't lying…" one of them said. "No matter. We can still win! Onwards!"

Darkmark said nothing, holding his empty hands out to the sides of him. His aura began to break off and form balls of energy in the air around him, and with a single gesture one turned into a bolt of energy and struck an armoured Dragon Slayer full in the chest, knocking him back.

The remainder made a scattering charge, breaking their formation as they rushed forwards. Continuously pointing and firing the balls of energy, Darkmark cut them down to roughly half before they reached him, whereupon he brought his arms together and the balls re-formed his aura, drawing his flail rather than his sword and doing his best to dodge the onslaught of attacks, stumbling back.

Putting aside their differences, the two vampires rushed to Darkmark's aid as he drew his sword, aided by Salína and her pike as well as a few of the anthros who had weapons of their own. Having lost the element of surprise, the initiative, half of their number, and with the other half of their pincer attack on the village being non-existent, the attackers were readily beaten back, though their heavy armour stopped all of the physical attacks that were made. Tsi-Lau's chi blades chi through one of them with repeated attacks, but they were proving tough to handle…

Yoshata caught up to them and tried to help, hovering above them all and knocking back the soldiers with her electrical bolts, though they were only enough to stun them for a few moments. Darkmark grabbed one with a psionic cable and attempted to throw him into the chasm the anthro village was situated next to, but he was too heavy, and Darkmark had to dodge another attack before he could put more energy into it…

"Get back, get back!" Darkmark roared, and the rumbling tone of his voice gave all the encouragement they needed. He stood between them and the humans, edging forwards, pushing them back with a translucent shield of energy. Tsi-Lau cast some kind of chi spell from behind him and stunned them momentarily, allowing Darkmark to finish them off…

He put his hands together with a gap between them of a few inches, energy sparking between his palms. It began to grow into a ball of energy, chaotic and fluctuating, and the buzz of electricity filled the air as it grew until it was about the size of a fist. Darkmark raised it up, but Tsi-Lau ran forwards at that moment to take him out, swinging her chi-blades as she ran for him…

She was intercepted at the last moment by Yoshata, who slammed into her and knocked her away, then fell back behind a large boulder. Darkmark threw the ball of energy at the group of Dragon Slayers as they got to their feet, and it passed harmlessly by them until Darkmark waved his hand upwards, snarling…

It exploded in a wave of energy, engulfing all of the soldiers, Tsi-Lau, Yoshata, and Darkmark. The blinding flash made the air seem to turn white, and it was a few minutes before Skafria and the others could see again, and observe what had happened as the dust cleared again…

Tsi-Lau was lying on her back, panting, her chi-blades gripped tightly in her hands but showing no activity, and Skafria ran over to her first. Darkmark had collapsed onto his front with his wings twitching, but neither Yoshata nor the rock she had taken shelter behind was anywhere to be seen, and there was nothing left of the Dragon Slayers who had been at the epicentre of the explosion.

The anthros circled around the two remaining ones, and Salína rolled Darkmark onto his front. His aurae had vanished, and his eyes were now white with red pupils, glowing faintly in the light of early evening. His breaths were shallow and uneven, but they were there nonetheless, and Skafria bent over the body of his old friend, putting a hand on his chest.

"Darkmark… Marcus… is this what it all came to…?"

* * *

Groaning and rubbing her head, Yoshata heaved herself up off of the ground, moving everything she could to check if she had any injuries. The top of her hair and the bottoms of her boots were a little singed, but otherwise she seemed fine, blown clear in the explosion. She looked around, but it was nighttime, and she couldn't make out anything in the darkness. At least it was warm wherever she had landed, and she set off in the darkness with her hands engulfed in fire to try and find someone who could tell her where she was…

**_To be continued…_**


	88. Chapter Eighty Seven: Fragile Peace

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 87 -Fragile Peace**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: After a long, long, loooooong hiatus, Cursed Yoshi is back for the third and final part to the story! Not to spoil anything, but even when CY ends I have plans for a sequel of sorts... we're back to a Sunday update, just so you know. Thank you all for your support and encouragement..._

* * *

23rd of Eira, Chyrusian Date 2156; Anthronian Village in the Kaftata Mountains

Skafria was pacing. It was a habit he had always had even when he was still alive and younger, and he did it whenever he was completely lost in thought. He was continually walking past two lain-out bodies of his friend, Darkmark, and his newfound partner, Tsi-Lau. The former was completely knocked out by the use of his own powers, and the latter was recovering from the subsequent blast those powers had caused. Both were alive – well, Tsi-Lau was still undead – but what happened next would depend on who regained consciousness first.

If Tsi-Lau awoke first, then Skafria would have his work cut out stopping her from killing Darkmark while he slept. He'd have to persuade her, take her weapons, whatever it took, unless she was able to persuade _him_ to kill his old friend… and how much persuasion would that take? Perhaps he could try and lead her away, back to a city, any city, where they could live together and feed together. A vampire couple was a completely unheard-of prospect, so Skafria wondered what might come of it…

And if Darkmark awoke first, then Skafria would have to try to stop _him_ from killing _her_. An equally thrilling prospect given the potential pain involved if Darkmark got angry and started sticking his banishing sword into undead things such as Skafria himself. He could live – undie, whatever – without that, as far as he was concerned.

Unless…

24th of Eira, CD 2156; Shared City of Corvan in the Felennia Grasslands

Vachez straightened up and adjusted his scarf as he heard someone approaching, but his heart filled with dread when he saw some of the city guard entering, weapons drawn. He'd seen the leader of this particular group before.

"Begone, foul humans." Vachez commanded. "Cease to defile this place with your unholy presence."

They stopped advancing at this, and chuckled amongst themselves before spitting on the floor in disrespect, making the black Yoshi's fists clench. "Shut up, heathen. You know why we're here. Hand him over."

Vachez shook his head. "Not this time. I know what you'll do with him."

"You're not fit to look after a child."

"And you are? You couldn't care less whether they starve or survive. Your orphanages are places of hatred and torture. You make them sleep on the floors and feed them whatever nobody else would touch. You beat them for the slightest mistake and if you kill them, you see it as an opening to accept another. You have no regard for the sanctity of life."

"You talk big, but you're just one lizard." The leader retorted. "I'd like to see you stop us."

"Then let me try." Vachez remarked, reaching into his saddlebags. "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you from taking back Tamaroro."

_O divine Gods, please forgive me for what I must do…and grant me your strength and power to overcome adversity…_

He pulled a small orb from his saddlebags, and held it in his palm as it began to glow, a bright white light shining from its centre, and it hovered above his hand, bobbing up and down slightly as it levitated. When they moved forwards again he directed it with a gesture, and it flew forwards at blinding speed, slamming into the face of the closest one and breaking his nose. It immediately returned to Vachez, and he held it up as they stopped and looked at him again.

"I should not be so lenient with you foul creatures, but my teachings command it. Leave or suffer my wrath…"

The one he had injured headed off, but the other two remained, the leader calling for the fleeing one to come back, in vain. Before they could make another move Vachez sent the orb back again, and when the guard ducked it, the orb hit the back of his head on the return flight, bouncing up into the air and flying back to Vachez. Targeting the leader, the only one left, he sent the orb straight for him, but it circled around his body several times to confuse him before smacking him in the side of his head and knocking him out.

The orb flew back to Vachez and he calmed down, allowing it to float down to his palm, the shine receding. Saddlebagging it, he prepared to send the unconscious guards off somewhere, but a little voice caught his attention.

"How did you do that, Uncle?" Tamaroro piped up, peering from around a pedestal pushed up against the wall.

Vachez chuckled; though he was of no relation to the baby, Tamaroro called him 'uncle' anyway. "My father gave it to me. If I ever have any children I'll give it to them, otherwise I may hand it over to you some day…"

The little green Yoshi beamed, and Vachez picked him up and held him close, so that he rubbed against his scarf, making the little one giggle. "Don't worry. They probably won't come back in a hurry. They won't be _that_ desperate to get you…"

The green baby didn't seem perturbed in the least. "What's that?" he asked inquisitively, pointing to what was on the pedestal he had been hiding behind.

It was a suit of armour, comprised of plated sheets held together loosely, so that they could fit over many sizes and builds whilst still sturdy enough to take a solid blow from a weapon. It was accompanied by a visored helmet and a large sword, propped up neatly and polished to a fine shine. It had clearly not always been for decoration, as there were dents in the armour Vachez had been unable to completely remove, scratches on the helmet that could be repaired by skilled metalworkers, and nicks in the sword that Vachez had yet to have removed. Next to it was a brown shield made from dragon scales that Samintha had handed over along with the little infant.

"My brother's." Vachez murmured. "He was a Holy Knight."

"Why's it here?" Tamaroro asked naïvely. "Why doesn't he have it?"

"Well, he wore it to the very end. He was here before I was, but unfortunately, he got into trouble with the wrong people… he almost won, but…"

Tamaroro sensed it was something his adoptive parent didn't want to talk about. "Why don't you wear it?"

"I'm not a fighter." The black Yoshi sighed. "Only Holy Knights can wear that, and I never… well, it takes a long time to become a Holy Knight. You have to learn about more than just fighting, you have to be a strict Octotheist, and you have to be really strong…"

He looked down at the three-year-old cradled in his arms. "You're a bit too small for it, but you might fit into it someday when you're older, hm?"

A smile shone back up at him, and he returned it. "Heh, when you're older, perhaps… I still need to teach you, though. They'd never take you on if you can't read or write."

Tamaroro gave him a dejected look, but resigned himself to making another attempt at reading. All he knew was that Vachez had a lot of books, a lot of which were far too difficult for him to be trying to read…

Anthronian Village

As it turned out, Tsi-Lau awoke first. And she wasn't at all happy.

Skafria had, as a precaution, put heavy chains around both of them. The two medics the village had were attending to Darkmark and making sure that he was able to take some water and some of the fruit juice they had, while Skafria had sat idly by. He had temporarily stopped drinking, since he wasn't really doing much, and had devoted some of his time to trying to strike up conversation with Salína, to minimal success.

"Comfortable?" Skafria asked as Tsi-Lau gave him a look of hatred.

"Get these things off of me. I'm hungry… I need food…"

She gave him an endearing look, but he shrugged it off. "Not until you promise me something."

Her head tilted over towards Darkmark. "Let me guess."

"Why do you want to kill him so badly?"

"He killed my Sensei, and he killed me…"

"Be fair." Skafria replied. "Think what she did to Shiala and his son. And you were trying to kill him; it was one or the other of you."

She went silent, but the look in her eyes told him her mind wasn't made up yet. "He won't try to hurt you if you don't hurt him. Can't you just forgive him? Surely you remember long ago now… he was a nice person, but then…"

"Shiala, I know." She said quietly. "I must admit I never thought that she would do what she did. But my years of training taught me obedience."

"Blind obedience?"

She shook her head. "I still have my opinions, and my honor. What she did was wrong, yes…"

"Then why do you want to kill him?"

She remained silent.

"Do you still want to kill him?"

"I… I hate losing."

"What?"

"I hate losing. I hate only being second best. I can't stand failure. It claws at me and tears me apart from the inside. And I see him as a failure of mine. I was ordered to kill him, and I failed. Several times. He's beaten me. And I want to beat him. I want to defeat him, to prove to myself that I'm capable…"

She went quiet again, and Skafria thought for a moment. "Tell you what," he said after a moments' deliberation, "When he comes to, you can fight him. No chi, no psionics. I can lend him my sword. And you can fight him, then, and you can see who's better in a fair fight. Nobody dies or gets banished, but you have the opportunity to prove to yourself whatever you want to prove."

She looked him in the eyes, and then nodded slowly. "That… that sounds fair."

"Then do you promise not to kill him while he's out?"

"I promise… on my spirit and honour."

"Good." Skafria said, undoing the rusty lock on the chains and pulling them off of her. They'd been leftover from something or other, but the anthros hadn't needed them, so they had let him borrow them for awhile…

She got unsteadily to her feet, rubbing at herself. "Get me some food so I can heal myself properly, okay?"

Skafria nodded, grabbing her and holding her up on one shoulder. "Okay, we can go find someone together. I need to eat too…"

25th of Eira, CD 2159; Winged Yoshies' Aerie

Karva was bent over on his knees beside Márynn, using a special brush to straighten out her wings and keep them fluffy, and in good working order. It didn't have to be done as often as it usually was in the aerie, but since almost all of them had a surfeit of free time, especially in the winter, they kept themselves in the best condition they could.

Butterfly was napping under a few blankets on her bed close by, and Márynn kept a smile on her face as her gaze alternated from the peacefully sleeping child, to the careful and gentle Karva next to her. She had already done his wings, and Butterfly's before she had gone to sleep, but was content to stand there and try not to think about how cold it was, or how hungry she felt.

"Almost done…" Karva told her, as he moved along to the ends of the wing he was doing. "They look better already."

"Thanks…" she said softly, shivering. She looked at Butterfly huddled under her blankets, and thought that she just might hop into her own bed and curl up beneath their soft, tempting warmth… perhaps taking Karva with her, his gentle touch bringing her inner warmth…

Karva put the brush back on the shelf – carved out of the stone rock – and hugged her gently, rubbing the side of his head against hers. She kept looking at Butterfly as she smiled more from his touch, which did not go unnoticed by her partner.

"You have a wonderful daughter." He said quietly, standing next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"I didn't know your kids very well." She whispered back. "But I'm sure that with someone like you as their parent, they were wonderful children too…"

Karva tried to smile. The memory still hurt him deep in his heart, seeing them slump to the ground bearing fatal wounds after-

"I… I was thinking…" She said, breaking his thoughts, something he was thankful for. "I love her so much… perhaps I should have more…"

She pulled him a little closer as Butterfly slept on. "I don't know if you're ready, but…"

"I'd love to." He replied. "I miss my own, but I can't have them back… I, I still feel my fatherly instincts when I see Butterfly… and right now there's nobody I'd rather start again with than you…"

A moment of silence passed between them before slowly, cautiously, Karva edged towards the door and walked through it, Márynn following as they passed by other rooms full of winged Yoshies huddling under blankets for warmth, families trying to comfort each other, ones with food eating uncharacteristically slowly to savour every piece, every precious crumb…

These sights had darkened Karva's spirit a little by the time they reached the plateau just outside the aerie, but when Márynn put her arms around him he cheered up again. Looking into the distance, he could see that while the volcano was still spilling molten magma into the faraway ravines and crevasses, the smoke had ceased and the sky was clearing a little. He hoped there wasn't anybody near there, but at least it would be warm…

Márynn diverted his attention with a gentle kiss, sliding her hands down his back to just above where his wings came from his body. Carefully, the two of them moved up to the edge of the plateau and stood next to it, beside a thousand-foot drop back to the ground, which would normally be a lethal fall to anyone without wings who could soar back up into the air after gaining enough speed…

Karva put his arms around her, too, so that they had a firm grip on each other, and exchanged a few words with her, as was the ritual, but smiled the whole time, knowing that he was making a fresh start, another attempt to repair his broken life, the shattered peace he had once enjoyed…

He was about to pull her over the plateau edge and begin their descent when a loud, friendly voice called out from behind him. "Karva!" it shouted, "I leave you for three weeks after keeping an eye on you for years, and you finally get yourself a new partner?"

Karva looked over his shoulder, blushing at being surprised during a personal moment. His friend, the aerie's leader, was there, holding a large, overstuffed sack in front of him, with a smile on his face, his fine wings folding up on his back, snow melting on his greenish skin…

"I wasn't expecting you…"

"I'll say." The leader replied heartily as another winged Yoshi landed beside him, and headed into the aerie with a matching large sack. "Well, I'm glad to be back anyway. We've got plenty of food here, and it's good stuff… some fresh fruit too, which we won't see any more of until the winter ends. We helped ourselves to a little, but we've brought back the rest of it for everyone else."

Karva let go of Márynn and turned to face his friend. "Then you were successful, I take it? Did anybody get caught or anything?"

"Well…" the leader mused, "Old Djíro hurt his back trying to carry a big sackful… he's two hundred and twenty-three years old, you know, but insisted on coming along… we left him at the traveller's inn just outside the mountains, so he'll be coming along once he's gotten some bed rest. We didn't have to kill anyone either, which is wonderful… anyway, since you're a good friend, how'd you like to take this in while I go get some more?"

Karva chuckled, taking the sack and dragging it through the fur hangings with Márynn's help. "See?" She said calmly, still blushing madly but trying to make some conversation, "I told you… if we held out our hope, we'd be rewarded…"

**_To be continued…_**


	89. Chapter Eighty Eight: Reawakening

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 88 - Reawakening**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

26th of Eira, CD 2159; Anthro's Village

When Darkmark awoke, he simply didn't have the patience for the heavy chains that Skafria had put on him, and used the displacement trick he had discovered while fighting his other self to get out of them without any fuss whatsoever, except for the fact that he ended up a foot above the ground and fell back to it abruptly.

He felt a little disorientated even without that, and tried to regain his bearings. Karlo-Shin had taken him to the altar in the church of death, then the Gods did something… he was the fabled one now, whatever that meant. Probably nothing good, but also probably similar to the Saviour's deal. Then he had been in the psychic's temple with the other Dark Gods… and then Miyala had shown up, that was it. She'd shown him a few images from the past, what he was fighting to prevent… and then he'd gotten so angry that he'd done something that he couldn't remember… what was it? The '_Neoríasár'_ transformation; that was what it was called…

But what was _that_?

Just as the thought passed through his mind, he heard Karlo-Shin speaking to him, something muffled, and fumbled around in his saddlebags until he found the Dark Octagram, holding the black gem upwards.

_That will do, that will do._ The voice said. _You only need to invoke a meeting when you actually want to see me, not just to talk._

"Can you hear me?"

_Perfectly. But listen to what I have to say. That transformation is an age-old forbidden power. Only the greatest Psychics can use it, otherwise the lesser ones will be destroyed by it and their souls ripped apart. Had I not bestowed my knowledge to you back there, when you tried to use it, you would have befallen that fate…_

"I don't feel like I know it…"

_You don't consciously know it. But everything I learned about my powers is now embedded deep within your subconscious, and will come to you whenever you need it. Just one thing though…_

"Yes?"

_Don't try the transformation again. At least, not until you've learned a lot more about how to use your normal powers. You might still lose control of it, and the power harnessed from it would be enough to tear the very fabric of time and space if it happened to become unbalanced…_

"What does it do, though?"

_It increases the power of your psionics dramatically, and in a vicious circle, will continue to charge energy whether you deliberately do it or not. Eventually you can't hold any more, and the excess sparks off into those aurae you had – the ones around your hands and body. You can manipulate those aurae, as you know, since they are manifestations of psionic energy, but it takes practice. However…_

"However what?"

_You already know that Magic and Psionics is a bad mix for you. Magic destabilises the chaotic flux of psionic energy, and if you were in that form at the time… well, you would lose control of it, and who knows what would happen then? You certainly wouldn't survive, that's the only certainty._

"I see…"

_So like I said, don't use it. Yet. For now, however, you have more pressing tasks at hand. The day of reckoning is coming ever closer…_

His voice faded, and Darkmark put away the Octagram. Looking around, he caught sight of himself in a mirror propped against the wall, and stopped dead. He had bright red eyes, now, just like the rest of the Dark Gods, and they shone only slightly, enough to be seen but not enough to light up anything around him.

He gave a small, malicious smirk, but it fell off his face when he saw in the mirror Skafria opening the door and coming in, accompanied by Tsi-Lau. He reached for his sword, but somehow Skafria had taken it from him, probably by only holding the scabbard. He did, however, still have his flail, and he grabbed that instead, holding it in front of him defensively.

Immediately he noticed that it had a reddish aura around it, and almost dropped it in surprise. "Noticed that too, have you?" Skafria quipped. "I tried to grab it but things got a little too hot for my liking."

"What are you doing here?" Darkmark demanded. "And where am I?"

"Don't you remember? You killed the Dragon Slayers…"

"What? When did I do that?"

Darkmark strained to remember, but failed to recall anything after he had left the temple. "But anyway, what is _she_ doing here?"

"Don't worry about her…"

"I'll worry about her if I want to. She's tried to kill me any number of times!"

Tsi-Lau coughed. "I'm not now, am I? I could give it a good shot, but no, I'm holding back."

"I won't ask why." Darkmark murmured. "I don't think I'd believe the answer."

"You'll have to." Skafria murmured. "And this may take awhile…"

* * *

Somewhere between the Human cities of Morelva and Telkyte

The sole surviving Dragon Slayer from the expedition to the mountains kept his eyes on the road as he roared onwards, the wind ruffling through his unkempt hair. An extraordinary series of events had gotten him this far and he was riding them out for as long as they lasted…

Firstly after he had finally made his way out of the mountains, he had been able to procure a horse at the traveller's inn, and rode it into the ground just outside the nearest city along, Morelva. Hearing about an attack by Winged Yoshies, he persuaded those involved to lend him a chariot to speed rapidly back to the capital city of Telkyte to deliver their news, and so here he was, trying to think over the pounding horses' hooves. At least the snow had let up.

He was wearing only his breastplate, and had the rest of his armour lying in the chariot, giving him more freedom to control the horses as he flew across the empty roads. As he got closer towards the capital the quality of the roads became better, and he stopped only to let his horses graze as he would eat and drink to recover his own stamina. He was pushing himself to the limit, currently going at least a day without sleep, and he knew he'd have to take a long break before he could make it to the capital, or at least once he got inside. He didn't have to rush any more, he imagined. That freak volcano eruption was far enough away that he didn't have to worry about it, as were the two vampires that had plagued him. But the capital wasn't far away now, if only he could just make it to the safety of the fortified walls of Telkyte…

He was giving up the others for dead, and rightly so, though he didn't know it.

Would they believe him? Probably not. Wild stories like that were rarely believed, particularly if they were all bad news. Nobody liked to hear lots of bad news without any good news. And the Lieutenant didn't have any good news, nor was he in the state of mind to make any up to cover his ass.

The king would not be happy. But then again, he rarely was, even if his elite troops hadn't been beaten by those they trained to destroy. It was the law of averages, though. No military group could have a one hundred percent success rate forever. Not that such musings would hold much against a tribunal.

_He who fights and runs away,_ the Lieutenant thought grimly, _lives to die another way_.

* * *

Anthro's Village

"I don't think so." Darkmark replied coldly. "I have no reason to fight you just to boost your confidence. You lost, and I can't be bothered to prove that fact over and over again; good though you may be, I'm better."

He adjusted his reclaimed sword by his side, and flexed his wings. "I have more urgent things to do than parry with you. If I ever see you again, I won't hesitate to banish you. That goes for you too, Skafria."

"So you're running away?" Skafria replied, attempting to goad his friend into a rage. "Going to back down from a challenge?"

"No, I'm not going to repeat the inevitable, that's all."

"Without any special powers, it'll all be swordsmanship. You're nothing without your powers."

"Not true." Darkmark snapped. "I'm a fine fighter, but why handicap myself for no reason?"

Tsi-Lau spoke up. "Any good swordsman will tell you that fighting with a handicap improves your skill. It makes you think, it strengthens you beyond what you'd normally have to go with. I've done a lot of that in my assassin training. Blindfolds, blunt or oddly weighted swords…"

Darkmark hesitated, but flexed his wings again. "I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm in training. Until then…"

"Admit it, you're afraid you'll lose, so you're backing down." Skafria quipped. "Just like with Alziana."

Apparently this was the right button for the Vampire to press, because Darkmark gritted his teeth angrily and gave Skafria a stare of utter hatred, further amplified by his red eyes. "I… that… you… that was different! It's a completely different context."

"Still the same underlying mechanics…"

"Am I missing something?" Tsi-Lau inquired, but her question fell on deaf ear-holes.

"I sorted it out eventually…"

"Yeah, _eventually_. After you spent months and months complaining and whining and crying to yourself like a little baby fem-"

Darkmark drew his hand back and made a throwing motion, subconsciously using one of Karlo-Shin's hidden teachings to ultimately hurl a huge chunk of rock out of the ground at Skafria, who staggered back after it hit his Volzia shield and shattered into pieces. Darkmark drew his sword and prepared to run forwards, his hands gripped firmly about the hilt so hard his knuckles were showing, but Tsi-Lau ran into his path and caught his sword on one of hers.

"Well then, now that you've changed your mind, I'll be waiting over there for you." She whispered, stepping away and over to a large empty space.

Darkmark sheathed his sword, unbuckled it from his side, and dropped it down next to the sprawled Skafria. "One of these days…" he growled, "You'll push me just that _little bit too far_ and you'll have an eternity in the underworld to regret it. One of these days, you'll suffer the same fate that foolish human did, and you'll have brought it upon yourself."

Skafria gave no reply, instead attempting to get to his feet, and Darkmark gave him another glare as he took Skafria's sword from him. "One day, it may just be your last above the surface of Chyrus."

**_To be continued…_**


	90. Chapter Eighty Nine: Roots Of A Legend

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 89 -Roots of a legend**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's note: Sorry it's a day late, but University-level mathematics is a real pain. I'll try to keep on time in the future._

Late in the day; 26th of Eira, CD 2159; Anthro's Village

Tsi-Lau braced herself as Darkmark exchanged words – evidently unfriendly ones – with Skafria, then strode towards her and stopped a good distance away. He held up the sword and braced himself, adopting a position she had never seen him take up before – and one that he seemed surprised to use as well, given that he looked himself over for a few moments before returning his attention to her.

_So,_ he thought_, it looks like Karlo-Shin has also passed his knowledge of swordplay on to me… well, let's see if Tsi-Lau is finally ready to take a hint._

As he began to step forwards he saw several Anthros looking at the pair out of their windows curiously. It wasn't probably too exciting in a village on the fine line between survival and extinction in the middle of nowhere, so a welcome diversion like this would most likely draw a crowd, which would probably have been bigger if it wasn't snowing lightly.

Tsi-Lau made the first move, suddenly lunging forwards and striking hard against Darkmark's readied sword, drawing back out of the way of a swift counterattack, which despite the broad arc didn't take Darkmark long to recover from. He made a swift slash that both blocked her next attack and sent her onto the defensive, as he spun the sword loosely in his hand to use the momentum rather than negate it, swinging back at her unprepared defences. She barely parried this return strike and then leapt away, taken aback by how much her adversary's swordsmanship had suddenly increased.

"That's it?" Darkmark goaded, and she came at him not in fury but in sheer determination, faking twice before making a twin slash that Darkmark sidestepped, using the forward momentum to take her into a roll out of the path of Darkmark's vertical slash, flipping out of the roll onto her hands and then onto her feet, not turning her back on Darkmark the whole while, slashing at him and catching a stab he made in the process. She then brought her swords together to form an X and caught a slice Darkmark made, thrusting his blade back upon himself, but he spun around gracefully and would have taken her head from her shoulders had she not bent backwards, planting her swords in the ground for support as she brought her legs up, aiming a twin kick at Darkmark as his swing missed, but he was slightly beyond her reach and she went into a full backflip, taking her swords from the ground.

Undeterred, she came back at him in a flurry of strikes, all of which Darkmark kept away by stepping back with Skafria's sword held in front of him, before he leapt back, then forwards again, slashing at her hard and nearly knocking a sword from her hands. She barely kept her grip and the handle danced at her fingertips, but she still had it when she jumped away to avoid a follow-up attack…

Many images of Karshina show her with a pair of wooden dice. As the goddess of luck and fate, such an image is fitting, but it is not known to mortals whether or not she actually rolls them to determine the outcome of major events centred around an element of luck. There are only eight beings who know for sure, and those eight also only knew whether or not on this particular occasion, where two evenly matched opponents fought, equally determined to outdo the other, with no advantage, where only luck could determine the outcome, if she rolled her dice or not, and if she did, what she rolled…

Tsi-Lau swiftly parried another attack and swung again for Darkmark, missing him by less than an inch as he twisted his body to the side, before stepping back momentarily. When he advanced again, she leapt into the air and split her legs wide, moving her hands to send her swords around beneath them and up into the air, backflipping up and kicking Darkmark in the face. Then she grabbed her swords as they began to fall back down, deftly send the twin swords into a full circle, and stabbed forwards at her stunned opponent…

But at the last possible moment he brought his wings forward in front of him and flung them apart again, thrusting her swords to the sides, and he gave her a solid kick, knocking her onto her back. He leapt forwards and sliced downwards with deadly force, Skafria's diamond-edged sword about to connect with her-

"_Khórallará_!" Darkmark swore loudly as Tsi-Lau's hastily raised blade stabbed into him. It was low and off to one side, but it still hurt him, unlike Skafria's blade, which bounced off of her without any damage.

He staggered back and clutched at the wound, healing it after spending a few moments regaining his equilibrium, and Tsi-Lau stood up uneasily.

"Well, what do you know." Skafria said in an annoying cheerful voice. "You both would've killed each other, by the look of it.

"But that wasn't a fatal wound-" Darkmark began.

Tsi-Lau cut him off. "He didn't have his sword-"

"I would've had that sword-"

"It doesn't matter, I would have-"

"Enough!" Skafria shouted, and stepped between them. They remained silent, before Darkmark spread his wings and flexed them gently.

"Well then, if that's all, I'll be off." He said curtly, and ran in the other direction, taking flight without waiting for a reply.

_Could've been worse._ Skafria thought_. At least they both think they won, can't really argue with that for any good reason…

* * *

_

After taking off, Darkmark didn't really know where he was going, and simply flew onwards to see where he would end up, gliding along beneath the clouds, surveying the landscape beneath him. Something drew him towards the recently erupted volcano, but although it had mostly settled down it was still extremely hot and he steered away abruptly, coming to land a good distance away near a wooden cottage he had seen from above.

He was surprised to find it inhabited, even more so to discover its only occupant to be an elderly pink-ish Yoshi, relatively dark in colour and a bit slow, but still fairly active despite her evident age. She seemed surprised to find a visitor, but even moreso when Darkmark's red eyes caught hers and seemed to pierce into her like a fine needle.

"I… come in." she said, intimidated despite Darkmark saying nothing. He took up the offer of relative warmth and kicked the snow from his boots, onto the mat just inside, closing the door behind him.

It was only a small cabin, with a partition of sorts separating the main living area from the small bedroom. There was something of a kitchen and a fireplace too, with plenty of wood to burn beside it, and it appeared that the Yoshi had been sat in the rocking chair in front of the fire, keeping herself busy stitching a very ornate pattern that Darkmark couldn't make out for the fabric covering it.

"I… I rarely have visitors up here. I haven't had one since…" she trailed off again, as she turned her back to him while she sorted out her stitching.

Darkmark said nothing, still looking around the room, and she straightened up, turning to look at him. "I suppose it comes to us all some day…"

"I'm not here to kill you." Darkmark replied immediately, seeing through her musings. "Despite my appearance, I…"

He let his words hang as he searched his mind for something to help, and eventually wondered if he might be able to cast an illusion as he had to originally create the eyebrows still hovering over his head. He moved his hand in front of his face and, after a few tries, something stirred within his mind, doubtlessly another lesson of Karlo-Shin's passed on, and he saw the red glow upon his hand vanish.

"I don't have much to offer." She murmured, apparently unperturbed. "I can't really spare any food…"

"It's okay." Darkmark replied, reaching for his saddlebags and sorting through them. He didn't have many rations left, perhaps enough for two, maybe three days if he stretched it, which wasn't a good idea. He sorely missed the fruits he'd been able to get at the traveller's inn, and wondered if they had any more…

Absently, but calmly, she sat in her chair and returned to her stitching. "I guess you flew here… it's too tough to get anywhere in the winter, that's for sure. I have to have everything here ahead of time if I'm going to live it out…"

Darkmark shook his head. "What are you doing here? This place is far away from any kind of civilisation…"

"I've been here a long time." She said slowly. "At least my last hundred years have been here, maybe more. I try to enjoy life while I can, and attempt to keep myself amused as time passes me by, but I don't want to leave here, just in case…"

She seemed to have started to ramble, partly absorbed with the needle and the backing upon which she was working. "It was a long time ago, before your time, certainly… I remember that night, it was a winter's night, cloudless, the starry sky… and the aurora, they hung in the air like curtains of light, shining and shimmering, it was a beautiful sight…

"And then out of nowhere, he just appeared, this big green Yoshi, didn't have a thing on him, no boots, no saddle, save for just a fancy sword. I hadn't a clue how he got here, but there he was, and snuck up on me by accident. I was young back then, at the very least, but he seemed old, yet didn't look it. And orange fins, too, a healthy colour, the last thing I'd expect to see on someone in the middle of a frozen wildland…

"I didn't even get many visitors back then, so it was a surprise to me still, and a pleasant one. I invited him in, set up a fire – I still cut my own wood in the summer, it's easy to use magic – and sat him down to talk. Well, it seemed that he wanted to know something… I can't quite remember what, but for some reason, he thought I might be able to help him, and how I didn't quite understand…"

She went silent, pausing in her stitching. "He was quite the gentleman, but he suddenly started to push for something, and gave this most fantastical tale I didn't believe at the time… and then he showed me, this wondrous little feat he did, he made something appear out of the air, just like that. An entire plate of food, no less, and good stuff too, I never did figure out how he did it. But after that I was awed by him, and before the night was over, we…"

She resumed her work and smiled, pausing again to look up at Darkmark. "Well, let's just say that my bed had an extra occupant that night. I'm sure a young man like yourself knows what I mean… I was young, foolish, and should have expected it when I awoke in the morning with a bulging lower body and pains throughout. But the man, he was still there, yet I didn't know his name, and he seemed to be happy. He comforted me, somehow he made it almost painless, and then there was this beautiful little thing… a Yoshi egg, golden spots, shining in the light… but he offered to take it and wouldn't hear a word against it, and tried to leave as soon as he could. But before he went, he gave me some names…"

She went quiet again, but Darkmark, intrigued, made an inquisitive noise. "Oh yes, yes, sorry… yes, he said that his name was Eirsir, and he was going to call the child Sévar, or something like that. I never did find out what became of him, because I have waited here in this house forever since, waiting for that Yoshi claiming to be the God of Creation to return to me, though I don't doubt that it was really him…"

She tipped the stitching forwards and turned it over to show Darkmark the picture. A little angular, but still fine quality, the picture showed a small pale golden Yoshi with a tall, serious-looking but smiling green Yoshi behind him, holding a golden sword embedded with coloured gemstones.

Darkmark gently took hold of it and looked closer, wondering to himself why the foremost Yoshian god had come to the surface of the planet to find a normal female Yoshi with which to conceive he who would later become a saviour, failing to find the answers, nor anything close…

_Perhaps I shall ask him._ Darkmark thought, handing the almost-finished stitching back, and reaching for his saddlebags.

**_To be continued…_**


	91. Chapter Ninety: The Conspiracy

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 90 -The Conspiracy**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's note: Yeah. Sorry this is a week and a day late, but University is all-encompassing. I'm trying, though, I swear..._

26th of Eira, CD 2159; Location Unknown

"An interesting question." Eirsir mused. He had seemed rather nonchalant when Darkmark had summoned a meeting, walking outside of the cottage to do so first.

"Are you going to answer it?"

"I may as well. No sense in not doing so. I presume you remember what I told you previously about Chyrus? It is really, in essence, little more than a massive experiment, something that answers the questions I have… but I have become attached to it, in the same way that people become attached to their pets. Even if I find answers to all my questions, I will not discard or destroy this world I have created…"

Darkmark remained silent, and Eirsir carried on. "A few questions arose that required me to actively interact with the creatures on my creation… I used to do this in the old days, to talk to the Yoshies on Chyrus, but I stopped after the humans showed up. Only a few times did I appear in flesh, and the last was the one you asked me about. I thought that in order to understand the way people thought, I would have to meet with them on occasion… Vizorvy suggested to me that I try to feel fleshly pleasures in order to aid my understanding, and so I did, in the process bringing about Sévar. It was good fortune that it happened just before Klashkna came about… so I suppose I have Karshina to thank for that…"

Another pause endured. "And it did help. It helped my understanding, answered some questions… not all of them, of course, but still…"

"I see."

"Anything else you wish to ask?"

Darkmark thought for a moment. "The other gods… where do they get their power?"

"I gave it to them." Eirsir replied calmly. "I used to control it all… Hope, Luck, Time, Power, Wisdom, Love, Life, Death… but, I suppose you could say that I delegated it. I gave them parts of my power, though I still have a little bit of control over them. Except for Death, and all of the powers given to the Dark Gods by Klashkna… and the powers I have yet to give to Sévar. He will be the God of Strength and Determination."

"But if you keep a little…"

"Nothing serious. The only effect that any of it has is that I can share Miyala's visions of the future. But those little pieces are fading with the breaking of my sword, though they will come back when it is reforged…"

"What's my role in all of this?"

Eirsir smiled. "You know I can't tell you that. Knowledge of one's own future leads only to a feeling of hopelessness, unless you are aware of the fact that the future does change, as I'm sure you are… regardless, I can only tell you so much. You're really only the beginning of the end, I suppose you could say. You will indeed be a saviour, and become a legend, but your ultimate purpose is more important to us than that, as the grandfather of Sévar in his next incarnation."

"I see." Darkmark said quietly. He didn't particularly like the knowledge that it was practically fated to be his _duty_ to have children in order to help fulfil a legend…

"I only have one comment of my own." Eirsir murmured. "Those vampires… Manny and Valina… there has never before been a pairing of vampires in the history of Chyrus, not even within the underworld. Normally they fight each other for territory, for blood, but those two have a special connection, both brought to undeath by the same person, they share the same type of Volzia, and they are both free from the control of the one who injected them…"

Darkmark raised one of his artificial eyebrows. "Is it even possible for them to… pair?"

"I don't know." Eirsir said, with a smirk. "That's the beauty of it. Not even I know, but I will discover it within good time. It should be insightful. And if they have children, if they _can_ have children, even moreso. It intrigues me so much, such an unheard-of event coming to pass out of the blue…"

Darkmark said nothing, waiting as his consciousness faded out.

27th of Eira, CD 2159; Human Kingdom Capital City of Telkyte

The Lieutenant finally flopped onto his bed in the Dragon Slayer barracks within the main castle complex. He'd ridden his horses into the ground just outside the main walls, but by his good fortune a trader came by only a few minutes later and took him the rest of the way.

Unfortunately for him, his arrival did not go unnoticed, and he barely had five minutes' sleep before a guard from the castle arrived with an escort and dragged him off, literally at first until he woke up fully. He barely had the strength of mind to snatch his sword from where he had dropped it, clutching to it as he was taken away.

He didn't want to see the king. When people who failed in their duty met with the king, they rarely walked back out of the room. Sometimes they never came back out through the main door, instead leaving a back way under a sheet or in a long wooden box. And even if they did leave alive, they no longer had a career in the kingdom's court. When he was led to the large double doors to the king's chamber, the weight in his chest almost made him fall asleep on his feet.

The throne room was very elegant, with stained glass behind the lavish throne itself. Three doors behind the throne led to various rooms unknown to most, though one of them had to be the king's chamber. Guards and advisors stood near the throne upon which the king was seated, the young prince close by, watching attentively.

The captain of the city guard came forward first. "Where's the rest of your group, Lieutenant Richardson?"

"Dead." The Lieutenant answered wearily. He wasn't in the state of mind to lie about anything.

"How? You're supposed to be elites!"

"Vampires." He replied, dropping the sword he'd grabbed on his way out of his room. It was his only proof. The blade slipped from the scabbard, showing the Volzia-encrusted edge.

There was some murmuring amongst the guards, and the Captain came forward to take a look, examining the blade. "Looks like blood, but it's darker." He observed. "I'll take this, thank you very much…"

He walked away and handed it to a soldier with instructions to take it somewhere else, and the soldier ran off. Silence held for a moment before one of the King's advisors began talking.

"You expect us to believe this story? Vampires are the stuff of legends!"

"Not true." Another advisor said. "There's one in Sansata Castle. He pays us a small tribute, and we let him stay there."

The Lieutenant brightened up. Maybe there was some hope for him? "But these were Vampire Yoshies…"

More murmuring. "And you couldn't defeat them?" The guard captain said, rejoining the conversation, such as it was.

"My men's weapons were ineffective. I believe my silver blade had something to do with why only I could hurt them."

"I see. I'll make silver coatings standard for any further groups in that region. Anything else?"

"A city in the region reported an attack by Winged Yoshies on a supply convoy carrying primarily food, medicines, and several thousand coins' worth of gold."

Voices filled the air. "This is an outrage." The head military advisor said. "I've been saying for years we need to press our campaign harder!"

"As good a plan as it was, to eliminate the sub-races first, it's not so good in execution…"

"It was a flawed operation from the beginning…"

"Should've gotten them all while we had the chance…"

"How are we supposed to scale that mountain?"

"I blame our tacticians…"

"SILENCE!" The king roared, speaking for the first time since the Lieutenant had arrived. Everyone complied, perfectly happy to keep their heads on their shoulders.

"I think everyone here will agree that it's time for us to take control." The king said, two advisors nearby whispering to him. "By all rights, their land should be ours! What kind of kingdom doesn't have possession of all the lands under its rule? We must take it!"

The military advisor concurred. "Our army is large enough, or at least will be soon. We need more land, and they do not deserve to have theirs! We are a powerful nation, and they are lesser creatures!"

The king nodded, turning his attention to the Lieutenant. "You will have a chance to redeem yourself. You are hereby the acting Captain of the Dragon Slayers, and you have a special assignment. Do it and you'll keep that position. Fail, and we'll keep your head on a pike outside the gates."

The new Captain couldn't refuse. "Yes, my liege."

Grinning, the Captain of the Guard spoke up. "I have a brilliant idea. We will give them one warning, a show of our power. And we will ask them to surrender. If not…"

He pounded a fist into his other hand. "We will crush them into the dirt where they belong."

**_To be continued…_**


	92. Chapter Ninety One: Hither And Thither

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 91-Hither and Thither**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: "Late" again, but there's no update date listed in the description any more :p I'd love to stay and chatbut I really need to get my CSC108 assignment out of the way >>_

_It's not that I don't have these chapters written, it's that I'm not too sure where I'm going with this right now. I have here and now, I have the conclusion, but I don't know for sure what happens in between so I'm hesitant about publishing until I'm absolutely sure I know what I'm doing. I will finish this, though! I swear! I will see it through to the conclusion!_

27th of Eira, CD 2159; Winged Yoshies' Aerie

Karva smiled as he held Márynn close to him, his arms around her. They were both looking to the side at an egg adorned with reddish-orange spots, wrapped loosely in blankets to keep it warm.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Márynn asked weakly. She was still tired and sore from laying it that morning, but insisted on staying awake to keep an eye on it.

"Actually, I have…" Karva murmured to her. "If it's a male, I want to call it Marcus."

She looked over to him. "That's a nice name. Any particular reason?"

Karva shook his head. _I saw it engraved on the Saviour's flail when he was asleep…_

"No reason. I think it's a nice name, too."

_Were it not for him, none of this would have come to pass…_

"What if it's a girl?"

"I'm not sure. Do you have any ideas?"

She gently stroked the spotted eggshell. "Maybe a flower, to go with Butterfly?"

Karva chuckled. "We'll see, we'll see…"

Somewhere in the Kaftata Mountains

Darkmark woke slowly, a soft touch upon his shoulder. "Mmmph… Alzi… give me a little longer…"

The hand shook him again, and he slowly opened his eyes. He had been dreaming such sweet, lost dreams… memories of the Shoreside village, times spent with Alziana, tender moments with his first lost love…

He had fallen asleep in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, his wings folded neatly behind him and pressed up against the backing. It was a padded chair and comfortable, but had grown cold after the fire had burned out. The elderly Yoshi was waking him up as gently as she could, holding something in her hand…

Darkmark noticed it was a small wand, and he watched as, satisfied he was awake, she went to the kitchen and used it to aid her, bringing something from the top of the stove, a steaming bowl of some kind of soup. Darkmark declined, not wanting to take anything from the Yoshi's winter food stores, but she insisted and pressed him until he finally accepted the broth.

It was some kind of vegetable soup, not too filling but probably filled with nutrition for what it utterly lacked in taste and consistency. When they both finished in silence, she took the bowl back from him, walking off as he stared into the newly-lit fire absently.

The dancing flames absorbed his interest, the flicker and crackle of burning wood and the comforting heat radiated from it, the smell of the wood fire, it all seemed to fill his consciousness and distract him from the world…

"I do that too." The Yoshi said, startling Darkmark. "Glad to see you younger ones are, as well. And I thought the Dragon Yoshies were gone, but it's good that they're not…"

Darkmark didn't correct her on the matter, and she sighed. "Are you leaving soon? It was nice having a visitor, someone to talk to, but I can't have it forever…"

"Why are you out here?" Darkmark asked. "And how do you survive?"

"My magic helps me out." She replied, holding up the wand. "I can easily gather food and firewood with it. As for the why… I enjoy the scenery. It's quite peaceful out here. I used to live with my husband, but he died long, long ago… the time seems to pass slowly as it comes, but when I look back, it's like only yesterday he was alive…"

She gave another sigh. "I wonder what became of Sévar. I just hope he grew up happy, that's all…"

"I'm sure he did." Darkmark said quietly, taking his cloak and wrapping it back about his shoulders. "I… I'm going. Best of luck to you."

She smiled. "May Karshina's blessings be with you…"

Anthro's Village

"Let me show you a little trick." Tsi-Lau said quietly, taking Skafria's wrist with her left hand. She muttered under her breath, channeling ether from the air around her into chi, flowing throughout her body, then into a cloud of energy around the pair of them, and finally discharging it…

Skafria blinked. They had traveled a good distance, and must have gone to about halfway out of the mountains. "What was that?"

"Long-range teleport." She replied, batting snow from her eyelashes as it landed. "The short-range one only takes us a few feet, but takes virtually no time to cast, so is handy for getting out of tight corners. We'll need to wait in between each teleport, or the residual charge of chi will build up enough to cause us some serious problems."

"Such as? We're vampires now, we don't need to worry."

"True." Tsi-Lau mused. "Normally it would build up and discharge randomly, but none of the forms of energy it might take has a chance of hurting us now…"

She began the process again, and Skafria watched intently. He was not as good as Darkmark was at copying such a procedure, but even then he would need to know how to use chi, or know the right magic incantation. Landscapes flashed by with repeated movement, crossing great bounds of land in instants. Within an hour they were back within the Letekka Plains, and within another, the city of Corvan, soon after midnight.

The threatened discharge only happened twice on their journey, once near the border of the Grasslands and the Plains where a large explosion blew the two vampires apart, but they were able to find each other after the dust settled. Closer to the city of Corvan they ended up in a forest, and the energy spontaneously became a firestorm, starting what would have been a huge forest fire had Tsi-Lau not known the right way to bring about a rainstorm above them. Skafria felt rather useless, not knowing any magic to help, and vowed to get a book of spells once they arrived at their destination.

Tsi-Lau had other ideas, dragging him around to _Club Veils_, then around the back of it to the hidden entrance in the wall, passing through to a snappy salute by the guard on duty. He didn't ask about Skafria's presence, nor where Tsi-Lau had been.

As soon as she entered the main area, several other assassins greeted her, pushing Skafria off to one side as she fielded their questions about where she'd been, and what had happened to Yasei-Yeiko. Skafria was happy to hear her recount the detail and solely blame Darkmark for her sensei's death, and eventually she was able to break free and lead Skafria off through a guarded door and down a long corridor, eventually arriving at another guarded door through which they easily passed with Tsi-Lau's rank.

"Ah, hello again." A voice said as they entered. Skafria saw a dark greenish Yoshi standing in the center of the room, holding something by his side. The light was poor, but he could still make out the general layout of the room; it was quite large, and two opposite walls were lined with shelves of weapons, with smaller, wheeled shelves in front of them, leaving a large empty space in the center of the room.

"A little light, please?" Tsi-Lau asked, and the Yoshi nodded, waving his hand vaguely upwards, lighting the torches held in the brackets around the room. Skafria could see what he was holding in his other hand, but didn't have a clue what it was. It seemed to just be a long metal tube with mechanical-looking parts clustered at one end.

Looking around the armory, something struck him as odd; various familiar weapons were on the shelves that he had seen the University students using; the U-curved swords, a pair of Chakrata, a Quadra spear, and other strange weapons along with those that he hadn't seen before.

Almost on cue, Tsi-Lau noticed his interest and began to explain. "This is the armory, Skafria, although it's more of a reference armory. Individual weapons are kept here for new students to pick and choose from, and when they find one they like, we make them another for them."

"But why…"

"The University weapons? Yes, I wondered that the first time I saw them. Ta-… my sensei told me what I'm about to tell you: all of the weapons those University students make end up here through our own little methods. I think Maltí can explain it better than me, anyway."

The Yoshi nodded, his attention focused more on the object he was holding. "It's rather obvious why we do it. I'm the teacher of the weaponsmithing class. We have agents planted at that University to ensure that whenever the post opens up, we get the next armorer in there. University students are incredibly bright, and while some of them can't really take the pressure of the course, others have amazing brainwaves that we can either take completely or alter to our needs. It's why we ask them to submit not only a finished weapon, but the plans and instructions for their creation, as well. It keeps us more up-to-date than any other similar organization."

"And if there's one thing an assassin hates," Tsi-Lau commented, "It's being bettered by a mere mercenary."

Maltí chuckled. "Yes, yes… and of course, every now and again, we get a stroke of sheer and utter genius coming our way. Like this." He held up the item in his hands for them to look at. "It's amazing. It fires a crossbow bolt using explosives. Sounds crazy, but it really works. It's a special, low-power explosive made by combining a lot of various substances… it comes out as this black powder, which you put here." He tapped somewhere near the back of the device. "I've already put some in. Now, this little hammer here is pulled back at the moment. When I pull this trigger underneath it like you would a normal crossbow, it releases this hammer, which is attached to a spring that makes it snap forwards and strike this piece of flint here." Again, he tapped the device to demonstrate. "This causes sparks to be struck, which ignites the powder charge and detonates it. Once the hammer is up, the back of this tube here is pretty much sealed, so the explosion is contained within it. You put a crossbow bolt in the other end of the tube like so… just slide it in… and then the explosion propels it out of the tube at high speed."

"How high?" Skafria asked.

"Too fast for my liking." The armorer said, smirking. "It takes a while to reload like a normal crossbow – you have to pull the hammer back, put more powder in, put a new crossbow bolt in, then aim – but it is incredibly powerful. Let me show you…"

He walked over to where they were and aimed at the far wall, closing one eye and looking down the tube to aim, then pulled the trigger. The hammer came up and set off a spark, which resulted in a flash of light and a loud bang as the powder charge detonated. Skafria didn't even see the bolt travel through the air; one moment the armorer was holding the weapon, the next there was acrid smoke seeping from both ends and the bolt was firmly embedded in the far wall well over half its length.

"That's amazing." Skafria whispered, staring at the bolt as the Yoshi wafted away the smoke with his hand. "But why did you show me this?"

"The bolt gun? I didn't know we'd be getting a demonstration." Tsi-Lau replied. "You're here because I want to keep you with me for now, and I have something for Maltí to play with."

The armorer's eyes lit up as he put the bolt gun on one of the shelves. "You do? Oh, you know how much I love new toys. What is it?"

"You'll love it." Tsi-Lau said with a smirk, taking hold of her chi-blades and passing them over.

"Oh my… these are… the old tenth's… she never let me have a look at them… this is… this is incredible!"

"It gets better." She continued, handing him her sensei's handwritten notes. He took them with glee and ran off happily into another room with them, shouting absent thanks as he did so.

"He's innocent enough." Tsi-Lau informed Skafria. "A real master of his craft. He loves what he does, and he's never killed anyone. But apparently they had trouble finding a good candidate once for the teaching job, so they got the winning applicant and offered him this job. He turned it down and 'mysteriously' vanished, so Maltí got the job and he did accept the guild's offer… a wise move on his part."

She turned to face Skafria. "Come with me. Let's go find a place to get some rest, hmm? Tomorrow's a festival day… and even we assassins need days off."

Skafria smiled at her. "You're a natural at this."

"I know." She replied. "You have to be or you get killed."

Checking to make sure they were alone, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Is the place you have in mind private?"

"Very." She said, smiling slightly. "Nobody will dare disturb us unless they have a death wish…"

**_To be continued…_**


	93. Chapter 92: The Spark Of A Great Fire

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 92 - The Spark of a Great Fire**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

28th of Eira, CD 2159; Location Uncertain

Darkmark glided through the lower clouds, his wings spread, on his second day of travel, starting bright and early in the hopes he could get to a town or city…

His supplies were getting dangerously low, and he wasn't exactly in the best place to try and hunt, nor at the right time. Even after leaving the mountains, snow was falling, and most animals would be hibernating, so his best hope was to arrive in a city somewhere. Even a human city would do, and if they refused him entry or service, he'd take matters into his own hands…

Going back down through the cloud layer, he circled back after something caught his eye, and he was soon descending to the warmth of a traveler's inn.

Assassin's Guild, Corvan City

"Tell me something." Skafria crooned softly. "About… when you died…"

His hand rested upon Tsi-Lau's surprisingly soft side, her flank showing slight abrasion from where the saddle straps had been, but nothing major. He gently brushed his fingertips against her skin, his eyes gazing absently into hers as they lay on their sides.

Tsi-Lau's 'safe place' had turned out to be her sensei's old backroom, and the huge cushion behind the curtain proved to be a very comfortable bed. It was heavily stuffed but not overly so, and there were smaller cushions to act as pillows. The warmth trapped behind the curtains meant they had no need for any sheets, and Skafria had felt uncomfortable and cramped until he had relieved himself of his cloak, boots, saddle and saddlebags. Tsi-Lau had done the same, and it occurred to Skafria that it was the first time he'd ever seen her remove any of her equipment. Even in the feral village she seemed to sleep with her saddle on and her swords upon her back…

She gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Did you see it too? Just for a few moments… the afterlife…"

Skafria nodded. "I could see Karin, Alziana, Shiala, Visali… friends from my village… some of them vanished as I got closer, but then I blacked out…"

"I got closer, but then again, it was longer before I was injected." Tsi-Lau replied as Skafria shifted a hand down to caress her legs. "Vick was there… waiting… with his wife and Visali… they were oddly understanding. I suppose that being in the afterlife made them change… as it would…"

"Did they tell you anything?"

"Not much. Only Vick said anything of interest… he confirmed my suspicions that he had intended to choose me over his wife, way back… I moved forwards to hug him, but I embraced only empty air as I was pulled back to the mortal plane…"

Skafria stopped massaging her leg muscles. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, and it did more good than harm. Besides, I have you now… for as long as we live… we will be together… our similar differences bringing a bond between us…"

He silenced her by shifting forward to kiss her. He got a very strange sensation out of touching his fangs to hers, that she also seemed to experience, and he couldn't get enough of the mysterious new feeling, completely unlike anything he'd ever felt before. After all his hardships, losing his friends and family, his companions, then watching Marcus fall into darkness, and then his undeadening… he enjoyed so much more to have the body of another to hold and touch, to keep him warm on the inside, in ways he'd never take for granted again…

_That's ironic,_ he thought, smirking to himself_, that such lost and desired feelings should come back to me on the day of Vizorvy's Festival…_

Border Village of Khílhórensol

The Yoshian village of Khílhórensol, whose name literally translated as "Peaceful", was not very large, perhaps housing only two hundred, but all of them were out in the streets to celebrate a special day. Vizorvy's Festival occurred on his hatchday, the 28th of Eira, but had many other names; Festival of Love, Festival of Happiness, Friendship Festival, Vizorvy's Hatchday, Celebration Of Happiness, and others. The festival itself was meant to have many purposes, though the foremost of these was a day to be generally happy, it was also used by many as a special opportunity to declare their love for another, to propose marriage or having children, and to make friends with people they had never met before.

The village was bedecked in streamers and banners, with lanterns hung up everywhere to provide illumination later into the night, flowers neatly arranged along the edges of every street, every path, shopkeepers setting up stalls to provide food and refreshments throughout the day, Octothesian priests congregating for the opening of the festivities, their scarves draped loosely around them under the bright sunshine…

It was no mere coincidence that the human kingdom chose to attack that day.

While power-hungry and anxious, the advisors were talented and most were excellent tacticians. They had a small group of humans studying Yoshies, their culture and their religion to learn about them for one purpose, to find weaknesses.

It was perfect, or so they thought. The village was right near the border to the kingdom, so dispatch wouldn't take very long. The village was holding a religious festival and they would make easy targets. It would be swift and decisive, a show of the power the kingdom possessed, and an example of what would happen to the rest of them if they resisted. They would surely surrender, and even if they didn't, they wouldn't have enough time to mobilize a force big enough to stop them. The kingdom would push them back as far as they could, forcing them into reservations where they could keep them until they saw fit to wipe them out. It was a magnificent plan considering the short amount of time it had taken to be devised, whereupon it had been prepared for until the day the authorization was given to begin.

And it had. The force of Dragon Slayers and their ad-hoc reinforcements bearing down upon the village to remove it of its name and inhabitants would change the course of history. The Yoshies were too proud to submit to the kingdom, and would be wiped out by superior numbers and sheer force. The kingdom would have absolute power…

There was but a single flaw in the plan that nobody could have foreseen. An event the kingdom was ignorant of and the Yoshies could only hope for.

That was not to come immediately, however. Just as the festival was about to begin, pandemonium erupted as from all sides, as experienced Dragon Slayers and knights from the Royal Guard converged upon the village, with no mercy in their hearts and but one purpose in their minds.

The tired but alert Acting Captain of the Dragon Slayers rode at the front, his helmet off, a shining new sword drawn. They tried to run, but there was nowhere for them to escape to, and the crowd was too dense for them to make any progress. Bodies fell bearing mortal wounds within moments, armoured horses trampled those unable to get away, torches hurled onto the houses set fast-blazing fires, spreading rapidly across the dry thatch. They were so close together that every time the Captain swung his sword, it bit into flesh and cut against bone, even without the slightest effort put into aim. Cries of children seeing their parents slain lingered only for a short time before being silenced, multiple colours of Yoshi skins were singularly splashed with bright crimson…

In under an hour, all of the inhabitants of the village were dead and the village itself was razed. Suffering only one casualty – a minor injury sustained by a knight caused by falling off his horse as it reared away from the fires – they withdrew and headed back, their mission accomplished, leaving the destruction behind.

Only one survivor had been left. Backed up into a corner, he had been trapped and unable to do anything as he watched his friends and relatives be murdered, his wife gurgling as a sword impaled her, his baby son crushed beneath an ironclad hoof. He had been backed into a corner and they toyed with him, cutting him and beating him with the flats of their swords until he fell, feigning death. When they were gone, he weakly got to his feet as a cold wind blew around him, his scarf wet with his own blood, a scene of destruction lain out before him…

For many minutes, the black Yoshi stood there, unmoving, unspeaking, barely breathing, before he willed himself to walk over to his wife. Her life was gone from her body, a bloody hole in her chest…

He couldn't stop himself from crying, holding her body closely, closing his eyes and wishing for it all to go away. Barely managing a whisper, he prayed for her, for his son, and then to the gods, asking them why this had had to happen, why he had had to lose everything he had…

The sound of hoofbeats approached him, but he paid them no attention, still clinging tightly to his wife's body. _I do not want to see the horror that awaits me… if I am to die, so much the better…_

As fast as they had come, the hoofbeats went away, leaving the Yoshi clutching his wife. He did not know how long he remained, surrounded by death, all his hopes and all that brought light to his life extinguished in a single day, before he felt a hand come down on his shoulder…

**_To be continued…_**


	94. Chapter Ninety Three: Sweet Nothings

**Cursed Yoshi**

**Chapter 93 Sweet Nothings**

_Disclaimer: All characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this._

_Author's Note: Yes, it's back, after... oh man, five, six months? It's not on a regular update yet, I'm still shifting scenes about for the upcoming chapters, and then I'll return to a regular update._

_I'd dearly like to thank anyone who has left a review and anyone who is still reading this even after the hiatuses and delayed updates and whatever else. I love this story and the world I've created and have every intention of seeing it to its close._

_This is just a sort of teaser chapter until I get onto a regular update, which I promise will be soon._

28th of Eira, CD 2159; Chaos Dimension

"Just so you know, the calling of a meeting at any time works both ways."

"Thank you for telling me after I'd already found out." Darkmark replied.

He and Eirsir were hovering in a black void – the foremost Yoshi god had seen fit to hide the sight of Chaos from Darkmark's eyes, which he was fairly grateful for.

"I always wondered who might be the one to know the truth." Eirsir said, musing. He had his arms folded and floated up and down in the blackness.

"Truth?" Darkmark asked, though he felt he had been prompted.

"My truth." Eirsir answered. "Who I am. Where I come from."

"I thought you didn't know."

"You thought incorrectly." The god chided him. "While it is important never to mistake wishes for the truth, sometimes lies are preferable."

Darkmark raised one of his illusion-borne eyebrows. "Lies? How many?"

The green god shook his head. "Very few. They are of little consequence, I think. I would hope to believe so. They are only about me."

"What are they?"

"Now, now." Eirsir raised a hand and silenced the brown Yoshi. "If it were that simple I would make it common knowledge. No, not even Tivaro knows, though he has often asked. You know of the saviours?"

"Five, before me." Darkmark recalled. "The first two became gods. The third and fourth legends. The fifth was Sévar. And the sixth…" he gestured to himself.

"There will be seven. Sévar will come again. But that is not important. The two who were legends, do you know their names?"

Darkmark paused in contemplation, racking his memory. "No… but one must be Karlo-Shin."

"That's correct. He was the third. The fourth one, I thought, would be the one to tell the truth to. She seemed intelligent. Mitski Denníya, she was called. Her trials were quite perilous and fateful. I thought she was up to it."

"What happened to her?"

"She went insane." Eirsir replied flatly. "The truth was too much for her. She couldn't take it and fled into the Crelata Forests in nearly blind psychosis. I thought she would cope at first, but she lost most of her mind and her soul started to separate away. I killed her before her spirit would fragment to save her the fate of non-existance, but she still was quite unbalanced and I had to remove it from her memory. In some irony, she was the only person ever to find the Marble Altar, but her mind was too far gone to understand her discovery…"

Darkmark felt a chill. "All that from the truth?"

Eirsir nodded. "The question here, O Fabled One… is whether or not you can handle the truth."

Darkmark went silent, and Eirsir closed his eyes, thinking back. _I am from another place, perhaps another universe. I am not entirely sure where, but there are others like me… in different shapes, different forms. I was given this one. Along with my sword. The seven gemstones set into it contained all of the energy sources I might need… the four elements, and the three essences…_

_Contrary to belief… my sword does not create something from nothing. It uses the powers of those elements and essences to bring into existence what I wish for. And when it destroys, what it destroys returns to the elements and essences. Those elements and essences are used in creation, gain their power from what has been created, and when it is destroyed…_

_What am I? Apparently immortal. I exist upon this other plane where time does not pass. My body has no need of food or nourishment, warmth or comfort. I can see my creation, and the star-filled sky… the signs of the creations of all my brethren. I used to be able to interact with my creation, with Chyrus… but Klashkna, he is not a mortal. His body is mortal, perhaps… but something has taken him. Another one of my brethren? I cannot say for sure…_

_Creations in my image, that's all you are. And there are powers higher than I. A grand experiment, nothing more than something I did because I felt an instinct… where did that come from? And your destinies? Is there such a thing as destiny…?_

_I gave you part of myself, part of my life force, when I created you… your belief in me, your prayers and thoughts and feelings, all of these give power back to me, or at least they used to… you keep me alive, in existence, but without the sword, I cannot do anything to give back to you…_

_There are forces not my brethren that I cannot control. There is no god or goddess of nature, for that is a force beyond my control. Nature is almost a god unto itself… it can create, it can destroy. It can give, it can take, it can bring life, it can bring death. It can create things as harmless and beautiful as the aurorae, or as deadly and devastating as its own destruction…_

Darkmark interrupted his thoughts. "No." He said quietly. "I know of many with stronger minds than mine. I couldn't take the truth. I do not want to know. Not yet."

"I understand." Eirsir replied. "Sometimes I wish that I did not."

* * *

Corvan City

After a few more tender moments, Skafria had fallen asleep next to Tsi-Lau, who had gently gotten loose and slipped away, putting her equipment back on and trying to make herself look respectable. It had been a long time, far too long, since she had last felt such feelings, since she had last mated…

She shook her head. Assassins needed clear minds even on their days off. You never knew when an errant attack might come your way. But still… different though Skafria was from Vick, she felt attracted to him, felt the beginnings of something forming.

_Similar differences…_ she thought, smiling to herself. _Of course, as a vampire, who knows what parts of me have been affected besides my blood and mouth? If only I knew where we came from…_

She blinked as she adjusted to the bright sunlight outside, feeling a little tired and drained despite getting a few hours' sleep. _I must not be drinking enough…_ she thought, shielding her eyes and finding somewhere shaded.

_So, what now?_ She wondered, thinking to herself as a cool breeze blew around her. _What's my purpose? What do I do? What's my next goal in life?_

_At least hunting Darkmark gave me something to do. But now I'm back here, I don't know what to do. I need the break, I suppose, and Skafria's helping me relax… Manny, I mean… perhaps I should tell him my real name… I feel I can trust him, that I can… start again…_

"Hey." Came Skafria's voice from beside her. She turned towards him and embraced him in a hug, releasing him quickly.

"Hello." She replied. "Do you mind if I call you Manny from now on?"

He smiled a little, bearing his fangs in a way that she found slightly cute. "Not at all, just not in public. Can I call you Xenly?"

"You may, but that's not my real name." She said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "When we're alone you can call me Valina from now on."

"Valina… that's a nice name."

She smiled a little and stepped close to him. "We have the rest of the day to ourselves… shall we go back inside and spend it together? Tomorrow I must return to work…"

"Of course." He whispered to her, touching noses with her. As they walked back inside, Skafria sighed, looking over to her.

"What is it?" she inquired.

"Doesn't your job ever bother you? You kill people for money…"

"We're trained to deliver killing strokes." She said simply. "We are not trained to inflict pain, or to torture. Just to kill as quickly and efficiently as possible. Laryshka set up the first guild to train fighters who were skilled with killing blows, knowing weapon techniques, and eventually Chi, that could kill instantly. It's changed a little since then, but that's still the basic premise."

Skafria nodded slowly. "I couldn't do that. I don't kill the people I bite… I don't think I could bring myself to do it, and there isn't any need. I fight, yes… but when it comes to it, even if I kill, I don't like it."

"And yet, we both died." She mused. "Only to return again…"

Ruins of Khílhórensol

"What happened here?"

The black Yoshi did not reply, his voice gone, his mind in tatters.

"Please, tell me…"

Nor did he make any movement to show his acknowledgement, save for clutching his wife's body closer to him.

"It looks like a massacre… who did this?"

There was still no reply from the lone survivor, and so the visitor gave up and stood back a few paces. He was a young green Yoshi wearing a soft fabric cloak, covering his saddle and saddlebags as well as his back. His stud-soled hiking boots were caked with mud and grass, and he carried no weapons designed for combat. He had a small flute by his side and a lyre strapped to his back, though the bard was proficient with other instruments that he didn't carry with him.

Taking out the lyre, he strummed his fingers across the strings a few times before picking a melody and playing it, slowly and carefully. The sad, mournful tune crept over the black Yoshi and his low crying became louder sobs and eventually a wail of despair.

_Oops._ The bard thought to himself, noting the power of his music. _It may fit the mood here, but it's not helping any…_

He transitioned the tune into a more hopeful, uplifting one, but keeping it to a reasonable amount of enthusiasm, with a comparatively slow pace. While it stopped the Yoshi from crying, he didn't get up and stayed where he was, sniffling to himself. Humming a few bars as he finished a verse, the Yoshi started to sing in a high, clear voice, Yoshian words filling the air to match the tone, though he dropped the occasional note trying to keep his attention on his companion.

The song itself was not a hymn, but still sang of the goddess Sorsoy, and was an old wartime ballad used to inspire warriors to fight against the Koopas, though in more recent times modifications had been made to change the race in question to the Humans. For some reason the bard did not quite understand, the black Yoshi's sad expression turned to one of hatred, and he let go of the female's body he was holding, gripping his blood-splattered scarf tightly.

He muttered something and looked up at the musician, opening his eyes at last. He had a cut on his chest that was bleeding onto his scarf, as well as one on his arm and a few on his tail. Tears welled in his eyes and streaked down his cheeks as he reached for the sword the lone fallen knight had dropped.

"Why…" he murmured, kneeling and holding the bloodied sword in front of him. "Why did… why did they do this? It was… supposed to be… a happy day. And now… look at what's happened…"

He turned the blade and held his arms out so the point was pressed to his chest. The bard took a step forwards, but the black Yoshi glared at him and made him stop.

"Tell me who did this."

The black Yoshi ignored him. "Gods, forgive me… for what I must do… but rather than endure pain, I would choose death… judge me fairly and send my spirit to the afterlife…"

He looked over to the bard. "The… the humans… did this." He said weakly. "They have… no mercy."

Closing his eyes, he plunged the sword into his chest up to the hilt. It speared through his heart and sprayed blood from the exit wound, but he remained silent, his face contorted into a grimace of agony. He gasped a final call to his wife, then fell over onto his side and was still.

The young musician did nothing to stop him, though he swallowed heavily and felt a tear come to his eye, and knelt by the body to say a prayer for the dead priest. He touched his fingers to the nose of the deceased Yoshi at the end of the prayer and stood up, looking about the scene of death and destruction. Words and music came to him, and he began to hurriedly write them down, stopping occasionally and looking at the priest, sighing sadly.

_I must spread the news of this._ He thought as he hastily scrawled notes and lyrics on sheets of vaell._ I must have it known… for whatever reason it happened, it cannot be ignored and unknown…_

**To be continued…**


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